Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells $27,476.05 in Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 18,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total value of $27,476.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 715,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,037,982.50. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Cerus Stock Up 7.0 %

CERS opened at $1.53 on Thursday. Cerus Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.38 and a fifty-two week high of $2.54. 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 P/E ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.71 and a 200-day moving average of $1.75.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.