Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Down 7.4% – Here’s Why

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) traded down 7.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $2.85 and last traded at $2.8140. 373,968 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,948,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cerus presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Cerus Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $582.07 million, a P/E ratio of -58.10 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.13.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 127,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $211,723.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,040,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,314.66. This represents a 10.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total transaction of $61,998.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,059,139 shares in the company, valued at $2,128,869.39. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,210,949 shares of company stock valued at $2,156,291. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CERS. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 152.4% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 62,854 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 291.6% during the first 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 lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 12.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 344,395 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 6.8% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 17,039 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.