Wasatch Advisors LP Has $9.61 Million Stock Position in Cerus Corporation $CERS

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,281,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 181,480 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 2.75% of Cerus worth $9,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CERS. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Cerus during the third quarter worth $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CERS. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research upgraded 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cerus news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,679 shares in the company, valued at $680,365.40. This trade represents a 7.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $50,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,656,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,970,121. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,788 shares of company stock valued at $153,182. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cerus Price Performance

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $2.92 on Friday. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.15 and a 52 week high of $3.15. The firm has a market cap of $585.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.40 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. The business had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.