Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Sells $124,535.46 in Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $124,535.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,981,383.12. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS opened at $3.16 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.30. Cerus Corporation has a twelve month low of $1.15 and a twelve month high of $3.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $633.17 million, a P/E ratio of -63.20 and a beta of 1.77.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $59.89 million during 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, equities research analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CERS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of 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. Two 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.