Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Here’s Why

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s stock price traded up 5.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $2.54 and last traded at $2.5650. 316,559 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,892,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.05. The stock has a market cap of $566.05 million, a PE ratio of -56.50 and a beta of 1.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other Cerus news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total value of $61,998.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,059,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,128,869.39. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 447,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $743,276.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,998,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,297,498.38. This represents a 8.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,210,949 shares of company stock worth $2,156,291 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cerus by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,783,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,147,000 after purchasing an additional 62,663 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 2.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,533,758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,033,000 after buying an additional 213,917 shares during the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 3.8% in the first quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,114,061 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after acquiring an additional 148,812 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,470,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after acquiring an additional 519,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,423,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,993,000 after acquiring an additional 25,771 shares during the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.