Insider Selling: Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO Sells 78,187 Shares of Stock

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 78,187 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total transaction of $157,155.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,446,250 shares in the company, valued at $10,946,962.50. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Cerus Stock Performance

CERS stock remained flat at $1.93 on Monday. 2,029,960 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,640,307. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.89 million, a PE ratio of -24.13 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Cerus Corporation has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year high of $2.96.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CERS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 62,854 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 291.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 12.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 344,395 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 339.6% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 94,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 73,244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.