Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells $54,012.50 in Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 21,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total transaction of $54,012.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 438,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,095,017.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cerus Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:CERS traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.14. 606,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,259,025. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.66 million, a P/E ratio of -12.59 and a beta of 1.20. Cerus Co. has a 12 month low of $1.21 and a 12 month high of $2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1.98 and a 200 day moving average of $1.96.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $45.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.50 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 14.15% and a negative return on equity of 44.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CERS shares. Craig Hallum started coverage on Cerus in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Cerus from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RPO LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Cerus by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,530,019 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,105,000 after buying an additional 656,971 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion.