Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Cerus shares rose above their 200-day moving average of $2.48, trading as high as $2.58 and last changing hands at $2.53.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock has an overall “Hold” consensus and a $5.25 average price target, with ratings ranging from Sell to Buy.
• Cerus met quarterly EPS expectations at a $0.01 loss and reported $63.3 million in revenue, while institutional investors own 78.37% of the company and insiders have sold shares recently.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $2.48 and traded as high as $2.58. Cerus shares last traded at $2.53, with a volume of 1,454,561 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CERS. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.50 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Cerus Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $2.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.48. The firm has a market cap of $509.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.33 and a beta of 1.80.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.90 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 3.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,694,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,981,383.12. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total transaction of $89,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,791,237.86. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,283 shares of company stock worth $684,112. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cerus in the second quarter valued at $64,868,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,026,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 1,154.3% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,491,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,243 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Cerus during the second quarter worth about $2,536,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Cerus by 227.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,354,000 after buying an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on improving the safety of blood transfusions. The company develops and commercializes technologies designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by inactivating certain viruses, bacteria, parasites and white blood cells in donated blood components.

Its principal product platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses amotosalen and ultraviolet A light to treat blood components. The system is used with platelet and plasma components, and Cerus has also developed applications for red blood cells and cryoprecipitation.

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