Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) CFO Sells 33,676 Shares

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $99,007.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,062,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,122,832.72. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Stock Up 5.3%

Cerus stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.16. The company had a trading volume of 3,286,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,750,392. Cerus Corporation has a 12 month low of $1.15 and a 12 month high of $3.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.29. The company has a market capitalization of $633.17 million, a PE ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CERS. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 291.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Kotler Kevin purchased a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter worth $2,084,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake 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 worth $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $1,076,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cerus by 17.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,470,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 519,301 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cerus

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.