Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Sells 42,359 Shares of Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $124,535.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,981,383.12. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.16. 3,286,738 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,392. Cerus Corporation has a 1-year low of $1.15 and a 1-year high of $3.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $633.17 million, a P/E ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CERS. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CERS. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.