Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Price Target Increased to $4.00 by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) had its price target upped by Cantor Fitzgerald from $3.00 to $4.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

CERS has been the subject of several other reports. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Cerus in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a buy rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $2.50 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

Cerus Price Performance

CERS opened at $1.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Cerus has a 52-week low of $1.21 and a 52-week high of $3.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.88. The company has a market cap of $330.95 million, a P/E ratio of -10.53 and a beta of 1.31.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 19.27% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company had revenue of $46.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.80 million. On average, analysts expect that Cerus will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 29,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.40, for a total transaction of $70,507.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 478,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,346.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 29,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.40, for a total value of $70,507.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 478,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,346.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 62,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total transaction of $128,368.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,244,892 shares in the company, valued at $6,684,477.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 177,516 shares of company stock valued at $372,912. Corporate insiders own 7.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cerus by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 257,625 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 5,778 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Cerus by 3.7% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 396,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Cerus by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 188,702 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 14,433 shares during the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion.