Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Chrystal Jensen Sells 24,329 Shares of Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $71,527.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 966,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,971.58. The trade was a 2.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 opened at $3.16 on Friday. Cerus Corporation has a one year low of $1.15 and a one year high of $3.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $633.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.29. 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 (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. On average, analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CERS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cerus has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 62,854 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 291.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after buying an additional 1,064,133 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 12.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 344,395 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Cerus during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Cerus by 6.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 17,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.