Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) Stock Price Down 7.1% – Should You Sell?

Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL)’s stock price dropped 7.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $33.65 and last traded at $33.28. Approximately 188,106 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 572,647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VCEL shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Vericel from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Vericel in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Vericel from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vericel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vericel in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.40.

Vericel Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.19 and a 200-day moving average of $36.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.97 and a beta of 1.20.

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $92.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.66 million. Vericel had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 5.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vericel Corporation will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vericel news, insider Jonathan Mark Hopper sold 3,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $121,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,460. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vericel

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Vericel by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Vericel during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vericel in the third quarter worth $31,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Vericel in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vericel by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter.

About Vericel

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.