Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $5.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $2.50 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $3.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Cerus Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Cerus has a 52-week low of $1.21 and a 52-week high of $3.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $313.61 million, a P/E ratio of -8.24 and a beta of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 67.17% and a negative net margin of 23.98%. The business had revenue of $46.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.80 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cerus will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, SVP Carol Moore sold 20,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.02, for a total transaction of $41,650.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 490,623 shares in the company, valued at $991,058.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 21,497 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.97, for a total value of $42,349.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 618,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,218,937.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Carol Moore sold 20,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.02, for a total value of $41,650.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 490,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,058.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,516 shares of company stock worth $372,912 over the last three months. 7.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ionic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

About Cerus

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.