Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Down 7.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) were down 7.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $2.85 and last traded at $2.8140. Approximately 373,968 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 1,948,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CERS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Cerus Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.13. The firm has a market cap of $582.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.10 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. Equities research analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 127,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $211,723.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,040,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,314.66. This represents a 10.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total transaction of $61,998.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,059,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,128,869.39. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,210,949 shares of company stock valued at $2,156,291 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Cerus by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 7,603 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Cerus in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.