Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Short Interest Update

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 18,522,745 shares, a growth of 64.3% from the April 30th total of 11,273,044 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,628,884 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 9.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 127,544 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $211,723.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,040,551 shares in the company, valued at $1,727,314.66. This represents a 10.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 101,740 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $168,888.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 777,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,419.26. This represents a 11.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,158 shares of company stock valued at $1,966,389. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 7,603 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CERS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cerus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CERS traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $2.81. 1,052,596 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,965,743. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $562.04 million, a PE ratio of -55.90 and a beta of 1.77. Cerus has a 12 month low of $1.15 and a 12 month high of $3.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $2.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.16.

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

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.