Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells $76,000.88 in Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard Benjamin sold 40,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total transaction of $76,000.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 879,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,709.88. The trade was a 4.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Cerus Stock Up 1.1%

CERS opened at $1.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.38 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.86. Cerus Corporation has a twelve month low of $1.12 and a twelve month high of $2.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $64.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.31 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 7.58% and a negative return on equity of 26.09%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CERS shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cerus by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,783,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,147,000 after purchasing an additional 62,663 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 2.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,533,758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,033,000 after buying an additional 213,917 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 17.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,470,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,517,000 after acquiring an additional 519,301 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 38.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,632,304 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after acquiring an additional 733,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,423,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,993,000 after acquiring an additional 25,771 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.