Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells $54,012.50 in Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 21,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total transaction of $54,012.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 438,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,095,017.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cerus Trading Down 1.8 %

CERS traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.14. The stock had a trading volume of 606,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,259,025. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.59 and a beta of 1.20. Cerus Co. has a 1-year low of $1.21 and a 1-year high of $2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 44.14% and a negative net margin of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $45.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CERS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Cerus from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Craig Hallum started coverage on Cerus in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 451.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 12,179 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, RPO LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion.