Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) Stock Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Technical signal: Mesoblast shares crossed above the 50‑day moving average ($15.27), trading as high as $15.73 and last at $15.67, but remain below the 200‑day SMA of $16.65.
• Analyst and earnings backdrop: Broker sentiment is mixed with a consensus "Hold" (one Strong Buy, one Hold, one Sell) and Weiss Ratings reaffirming a "sell (e+)"; the company has negative earnings (Q1 EPS -$0.16; FY forecast -$0.49) and a negative PE of -29.02.
• Insider activity vs. institutional interest: Director Gregory George bought 2,324,072 shares at $1.48 and insiders purchased ~9.9M shares last quarter (insiders now own 18.8%), while institutional ownership is very low at 1.43%.

Shares of Mesoblast Limited (NASDAQ:MESO - Get Free Report) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.27 and traded as high as $15.73. Mesoblast shares last traded at $15.67, with a volume of 123,023 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Mesoblast in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Mesoblast Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of -29.02 and a beta of 2.19. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $15.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.65.

Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $25.67 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mesoblast Limited will post -0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mesoblast

In related news, Director Gregory George bought 2,324,072 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.48 per share, for a total transaction of $3,439,626.56. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,324,072 shares in the company, valued at $12,319,626.56. This trade represents a 38.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders bought 9,892,852 shares of company stock valued at $28,429,183. Insiders own 18.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesoblast

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MESO. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mesoblast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mesoblast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $479,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Mesoblast by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the company's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 11,242 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Mesoblast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Opal Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mesoblast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $307,000. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mesoblast Company Profile

Mesoblast Limited is a global leader in allogeneic cellular medicines, focused on developing treatments for inflammatory and immunologic diseases. Founded in 2004 by Dr. Silviu Itescu, the company builds on proprietary mesenchymal lineage cell technology to create off-the-shelf, donor-derived therapies. These therapies are designed to modulate immune responses and promote tissue repair in conditions where existing medical options are limited or ineffective.

The company's most advanced product, Alofisel® (darvadstrocel), has been approved in Europe for the treatment of complex perianal fistulas in adults with Crohn's disease.

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