Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $2.02 and traded as high as $2.56. Cerus shares last traded at $2.55, with a volume of 2,089,758 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CERS. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Cerus Trading Up 1.2%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.02. 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 firm has a market cap of $510.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.00 and a beta of 1.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business 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%. Equities analysts expect that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 447,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $743,276.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,998,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,297,498.38. This represents a 8.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total transaction of $61,998.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,059,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,128,869.39. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,210,949 shares of company stock valued at $2,156,291 in the last ninety days. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CERS. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Cerus during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.