Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.25.

Several equities analysts recently commented on CERS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday. Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.50 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th.

Cerus Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of CERS opened at $2.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $534.03 million, a P/E ratio of -88.33 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Cerus has a 1 year low of $1.30 and a 1 year high of $3.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total transaction of $89,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,791,237.86. This represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William Greenman sold 101,919 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $299,641.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,053,036 shares in the company, valued at $14,855,925.84. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 232,283 shares of company stock worth $684,112. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in Cerus by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth $56,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the second quarter valued at about $69,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on improving the safety of blood transfusions. The company develops and commercializes technologies designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by inactivating certain viruses, bacteria, parasites and white blood cells in donated blood components.

Its principal product platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses amotosalen and ultraviolet A light to treat blood components. The system is used with platelet and plasma components, and Cerus has also developed applications for red blood cells and cryoprecipitation.