Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $2.10 and traded as high as $2.76. Cerus shares last traded at $2.73, with a volume of 1,174,045 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CERS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.10. The stock has a market cap of $547.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.60 and a beta of 1.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.68 million. On average, analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 101,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $168,888.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 777,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,419.26. This represents a 11.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total transaction of $50,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,673,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,020,122. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,210,949 shares of company stock worth $2,156,291. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.