Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $3.21 and last traded at $3.0450, with a volume of 399369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CERS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $626.16 million, a PE ratio of -62.52 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other Cerus news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $50,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,656,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,970,121. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 53,788 shares of company stock valued at $153,182. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 62,854 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 291.6% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 12.0% in 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 during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 6.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 17,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.