Chrystal Jensen Sells 24,329 Shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $71,527.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 966,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,841,971.58. The trade was a 2.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Price Performance

NASDAQ:CERS traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3.16. 3,286,738 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,392. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.29. Cerus Corporation has a 1-year low of $1.15 and a 1-year high of $3.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $633.17 million, a PE ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company 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%. Research analysts expect that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CERS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research raised Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 291.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after buying an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Kotler Kevin acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter worth $2,084,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 793,244 shares in the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at $1,076,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Cerus by 17.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,470,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 519,301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.