Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO Sells 60,984 Shares of Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 60,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total value of $91,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,309,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,464,637. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

William Mariner Greenman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 4th, William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of Cerus stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $35,685.65.

Cerus Price Performance

Cerus stock opened at $1.49 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $276.83 million, a PE ratio of -13.55 and a beta of 1.56. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.38 and a one year high of $2.54.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.81 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,055,000 after buying an additional 2,589,721 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cerus by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,813,000 after purchasing an additional 994,007 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Cerus by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,877,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 986,286 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 2,084.7% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 492,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 470,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,847,000 after purchasing an additional 387,603 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.