Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 10,766,701 shares, a decline of 41.9% from the May 14th total of 18,522,745 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,541,848 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 5.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Cerus Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $2.56 on Friday. Cerus has a one year low of $1.15 and a one year high of $3.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $512.95 million, a P/E ratio of -51.20 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.20.

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

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,656,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,970,121. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 261,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $680,365.40. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,788 shares of company stock valued at $153,182. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

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.