Key Points
- COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares on May 1 at an average price of $3.00 for $50,001, leaving him with 1,673,374 shares (a 0.99% reduction in his position).
- Cerus beat the quarter's estimates with EPS of ($0.01) vs. ($0.03) and revenue of $59.89M vs. $55.68M, but remains unprofitable with a negative ROE and net margin and a market cap near $519M.
- The stock has mixed analyst coverage — consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target of $4.00 — and institutions own about 78.37% of shares, with several funds modestly increasing positions.
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $50,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,673,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,020,122. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
Cerus Stock Performance
Cerus stock opened at $2.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.99. The company has a market capitalization of $518.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.80 and a beta of 1.62. Cerus Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $1.15 and a fifty-two week high of $3.15.
Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of Cerus
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Cerus by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,051 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Cerus by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,365 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Cerus by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,556 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 6,094 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Cerus by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 142,958 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 6,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Cerus by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,651 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Cerus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. BTIG Research raised 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, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.00.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Cerus
Cerus Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
