Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Richard J. Benjamin Sells 26,139 Shares

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 26,139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total value of $39,208.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 734,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,102,198.50. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Cerus Stock Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ CERS traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1.47. 1,812,528 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,306,882. Cerus Co. has a 12 month low of $1.38 and a 12 month high of $2.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.11 million, a PE ratio of -13.36 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.79.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Cerus by 51.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 8,411 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cerus by 153.7% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 195,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 118,280 shares during the period. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cerus by 87.1% in the third quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 505,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 235,082 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Cerus in the third quarter worth $353,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cerus in the third quarter worth $71,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cerus

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.