Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells $80,981.32 in Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $80,981.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 400,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,050.70. The trade was a 11.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cerus Price Performance

CERS stock opened at $1.53 on Friday. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.38 and a one year high of $2.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market capitalization of $284.26 million, a PE ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,055,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,721 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Cerus by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,813,000 after purchasing an additional 994,007 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,847,000 after purchasing an additional 387,603 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,454,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,862,000 after purchasing an additional 39,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Cerus by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,738,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,506,000 after purchasing an additional 79,505 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

About Cerus

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.