Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.25.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CERS shares. Freedom Broker raised shares of Cerus to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $6.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. 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 report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, June 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total value of $53,180.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 261,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $680,365.40. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $99,007.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,062,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,122,832.72. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,404 shares of company stock valued at $787,293. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Trading Down 4.3%

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $2.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $542.09 million, a PE ratio of -89.67 and a beta of 1.81. Cerus has a 12 month low of $1.17 and a 12 month high of $3.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.44.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.90 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 3.06% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. Research analysts forecast that Cerus will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cerus

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.