Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) saw strong trading volume on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. 1,127,332 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the previous session’s volume of 1,803,533 shares.The stock last traded at $2.9150 and had previously closed at $2.72.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CERS. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cerus currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 127,544 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 10.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 447,757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $743,276.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,998,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,297,498.38. The trade was a 8.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,194,282 shares of company stock valued at $2,106,290 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 68.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Stock Up 7.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $584.08 million, a PE ratio of -58.92 and a beta of 1.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current 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.