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

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $71,527.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 966,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,971.58. This trade represents a 2.46% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of CERS traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $3.16. 3,286,738 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,392. Cerus Corporation has a 1-year low of $1.15 and a 1-year high of $3.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $633.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Trading of Cerus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at $1,076,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after buying an additional 793,244 shares during the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth about $545,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Cerus by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 6,651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.