Richard Benjamin Sells 101,740 Shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard Benjamin sold 101,740 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $168,888.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 777,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,419.26. This trade represents a 11.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CERS traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $1.80. 1,334,517 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,144,514. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $2.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.87. The company has a market cap of $345.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 1.51. Cerus Corporation has a 12-month low of $1.12 and a 12-month high of $2.96.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 7.58% and a negative return on equity of 26.09%. The business had revenue of $64.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.31 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CERS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Zacks Research lowered Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cerus by 291.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,133 shares during the last quarter. Kotler Kevin bought a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth $2,084,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Cerus by 227.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 17.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,470,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after buying an additional 519,301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.