Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek Jayaraman Sells 42,359 Shares of Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $124,535.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares in the company, valued at $4,981,383.12. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 Trading Up 5.3%

CERS opened at $3.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $633.17 million, a PE ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $2.59 and a 200-day moving average of $2.29. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.15 and a 52 week high of $3.21.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. Equities research analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Cerus by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,051 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Cerus by 1.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 5,365 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 142,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 6,415 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 6.9% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 6,651 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.