Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VCEL. Zacks Research downgraded Vericel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Vericel from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

Vericel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCEL opened at $37.40 on Friday. Vericel has a 52 week low of $29.24 and a 52 week high of $63.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.84 and a beta of 1.17.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.12. Vericel had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 4.30%. The firm had revenue of $67.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vericel will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCEL. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vericel by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,463,590 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $104,826,000 after buying an additional 401,990 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vericel by 90.3% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,210,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,864 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 9.0% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after purchasing an additional 161,378 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 18.0% during the second quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,742,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,136,000 after purchasing an additional 265,606 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vericel by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,240,389 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,786,000 after purchasing an additional 38,799 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

Vericel Corporation is a biotechnology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cell-based therapies for patients with severe diseases and conditions. The company’s expertise lies in regenerative medicine, where it harnesses the power of autologous cell processing to create products designed to restore function and promote healing in damaged tissues.

Vericel currently markets two FDA-approved therapies. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.