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

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $2.24 and traded as high as $2.69. Cerus shares last traded at $2.60, with a volume of 1,935,003 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Cerus Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.24. The company has a market cap of $520.96 million, a PE ratio of -52.00 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other Cerus news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $680,365.40. This trade represents a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total transaction of $50,001.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,656,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,970,121. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 53,788 shares of company stock worth $153,182 in the last ninety days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 7,603 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

About Cerus

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.