Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) passed 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 trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CERS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Up 3.6%

The stock has a market cap of $637.18 million, a P/E ratio of -63.60 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.35. 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 posted its 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. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%.The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $99,007.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 101,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $299,641.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,053,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,855,925.84. This trade represents a 1.98% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 256,071 shares of company stock valued at $747,894. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Kotler Kevin bought a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,084,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Cerus by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,076,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cerus by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,470,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 519,301 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.