Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.45 and traded as high as $2.09. Cerus shares last traded at $1.87, with a volume of 1,431,382 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CERS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $359.21 million, a P/E ratio of -23.38 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.45.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 27.58% and a negative net margin of 8.01%.The company had revenue of $60.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.12 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Cerus Corporation will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 93,343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 7,355 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Cerus by 3.4% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 231,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 7,663 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Cerus by 65.2% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 19,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 7,866 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Cerus by 8.8% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 110,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 8,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bouvel Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 496,189 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,126 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion.