Insider Selling: Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) Insider Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Vericel Co. (NASDAQ:VCEL) insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.72, for a total value of $587,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,427,545.12. The trade was a 14.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Vericel Trading Down 0.9 %

VCEL traded down $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.24. The stock had a trading volume of 420,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,472. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 952.67 and a beta of 1.70. Vericel Co. has a one year low of $32.31 and a one year high of $61.49.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.32 million. Vericel had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 1.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vericel Co. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VCEL shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Vericel from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Vericel in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Vericel from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Vericel by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 33,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 4,117 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Vericel by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,576 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vericel during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,154,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Vericel by 145.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,527 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 66,082 shares during the last quarter.

Vericel Company Profile

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns.