Insider Selling: Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) Director Robert Md Zerbe sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.88, for a total transaction of $115,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,909,750.60. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Vericel Price Performance

VCEL stock traded down $2.03 on Thursday, reaching $57.42. 826,522 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 900,707. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 89.72 and a beta of 1.08. Vericel Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.95 and a 12 month high of $59.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.30.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $85.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.95 million. Vericel had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The business’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Vericel Corporation will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCEL has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vericel in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vericel from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Stephens upped their price target on Vericel from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Vericel from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vericel currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCEL. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Vericel by 298.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 182,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,306,000 after buying an additional 136,288 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 19,832 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 6,623 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 312,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,556,000 after acquiring an additional 136,785 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 91,026 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,654,000 after acquiring an additional 26,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vericel by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing cell therapies and other treatments for serious conditions. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company markets its products primarily in the United States. Its products include MACI, an implant made from a patient’s own cultured cartilage cells used to repair certain cartilage defects in the knee, and Epicel, a cultured skin graft used to treat patients with deep burns. Vericel also commercializes NexoBrid in the United States, an enzyme-based treatment for removing dead tissue from severe thermal burns.