Insider Selling: Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO Sells 447,757 Shares of Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 447,757 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $743,276.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,998,493 shares in the company, valued at $8,297,498.38. This trade represents a 8.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

William Mariner Greenman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 6th, William Mariner Greenman sold 78,187 shares of Cerus stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total transaction of $157,155.87.

Cerus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CERS traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,334,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,144,514. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.73. Cerus Corporation has a 12-month low of $1.12 and a 12-month high of $2.96.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 26.09% and a negative net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of $64.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.31 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Cerus by 321.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 46,801 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 35,692 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Cerus by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 309,168 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 69,087 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 53,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 17,336 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 142,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 6,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kotler Kevin bought a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $2,084,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CERS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.