Insider Selling: Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO Sells 101,919 Shares of Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 101,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $299,641.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,053,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,855,925.84. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CERS traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.16. 3,286,738 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,750,392. The company has a market cap of $633.17 million, a P/E ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $1.15 and a twelve month high of $3.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company 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, analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CERS. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. 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, Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CERS. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 7,603 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 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.