Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Up 8.1% – Time to Buy?

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s stock price shot up 8.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $2.83 and last traded at $2.8550. Approximately 1,138,007 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 2,022,437 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CERS. Zacks Research upgraded Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research raised 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. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Cerus Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.25. The firm has a market cap of $572.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.90 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted 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. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.68 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In other Cerus news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total transaction of $50,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,656,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,970,121. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 261,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $680,365.40. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,788 shares of company stock worth $153,182. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Cerus by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,218,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 39,310 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,114,061 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after purchasing an additional 148,812 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 578,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 80,900 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,676 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 12,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.