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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research upgraded Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Cerus Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.28. The stock has a market cap of $626.16 million, a PE ratio of -62.52 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. Research analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 261,679 shares in the company, valued at $680,365.40. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total transaction of $50,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,656,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,970,121. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,788 shares of company stock valued at $153,182. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Cerus by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,218,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after acquiring an additional 39,310 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cerus by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,114,061 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,488,000 after buying an additional 148,812 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Cerus by 16.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 578,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 80,900 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 56.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,676 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 12,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the first quarter worth about $206,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cerus

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.