Chrystal Jensen Sells 24,329 Shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $71,527.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 966,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,971.58. This trade represents a 2.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of Cerus stock opened at $3.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.61 and a 200-day moving average of $2.30. The stock has a market cap of $633.17 million, a PE ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77. Cerus Corporation has a 52-week low of $1.15 and a 52-week high of $3.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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