Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CERS. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cerus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of Cerus stock opened at $2.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83. Cerus has a 52-week low of $1.15 and a 52-week high of $3.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $2.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $600.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -99.33 and a beta of 1.81.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $63.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.90 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 3.06% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cerus will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In related news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total value of $53,180.40. Following the sale, the director owned 261,679 shares in the company, valued at $680,365.40. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $71,527.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 966,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,971.58. The trade was a 2.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 239,404 shares of company stock valued at $697,893 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Cerus by 152.4% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 62,854 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cerus by 291.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Cerus by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 344,395 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Cerus during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Cerus by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 17,039 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.