Richard Benjamin Sells 101,740 Shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard Benjamin sold 101,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $168,888.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 777,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,419.26. This trade represents a 11.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.80 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.88. The firm has a market cap of $345.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 1.51. Cerus Corporation has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year high of $2.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 26.09% and a negative net margin of 7.58%.The business had revenue of $64.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.31 million. Analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CERS shares. Wall Street Zen cut Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cerus has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 291.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Kotler Kevin acquired a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,084,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Cerus by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 793,244 shares in the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,076,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Cerus by 17.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cerus this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cerus named COO Vivek Jayaraman as President & Chief Executive Officer effective July 1, 2026, with current CEO William “Obi” Greenman becoming Executive Chairman — a clear, pre?announced succession that typically reduces leadership uncertainty. Cerus Appoints Vivek Jayaraman as President and Chief Executive Officer
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional investors have been increasing positions recently (notably AQR, UBS and Millennium), which can support liquidity and signal professional investor interest.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company disclosed executive compensation adjustments tied to the leadership change; these may be neutral-to-slightly-positive if they align incentives, but they could also increase near?term dilution depending on grant size and vesting. Compensation Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders sold sizable blocks around $1.66: CEO William Greenman (~447,757 shares), incoming CEO/COO Vivek Jayaraman (~165,200), CFO Kevin Green (~127,544), Richard Benjamin (~101,740) and Chrystal Jensen (~113,008). Collective insider liquidations of this scale can create short?term downward pressure and raise questions about timing or liquidity needs. CEO SEC Filing Benjamin SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed-to-negative: recent downgrades (Wall Street Zen cut buy?hold; Zacks to strong sell) leave the consensus at a “Reduce” rating, which can limit upside from new buyers until sentiment improves.

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.