Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $2.34 and traded as high as $3.15. Cerus shares last traded at $3.09, with a volume of 1,192,855 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CERS. 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 reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research upgraded Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cerus currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Trading Down 1.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.34. The firm has a market cap of $619.14 million, a PE ratio of -61.80 and a beta of 1.77.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Cerus news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $99,007.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,062,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,122,832.72. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $124,535.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,981,383.12. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 256,071 shares of company stock valued at $747,894 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CERS. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 62,854 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cerus by 291.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,133 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 12.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 344,395 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Cerus in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Cerus by 6.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 17,039 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.