Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Up 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s share price was up 9.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $3.44 and last traded at $3.4550. 1,739,478 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 2,123,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Cerus Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $684.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.50 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.30.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $55.68 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In other news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the company’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 directly owned 1,694,348 shares in the company, valued at $4,981,383.12. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 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 $99,007.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,062,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,122,832.72. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 256,071 shares of company stock valued at $747,894 in the last ninety days. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 291.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Kotler Kevin acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $2,084,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Cerus by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $1,076,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Cerus by 17.6% in 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.

Cerus Company Profile

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.