Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells 18,949 Shares of Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 18,949 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total transaction of $27,476.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 715,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,037,982.50. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cerus Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.43 on Wednesday. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.38 and a twelve month high of $2.54. The company has a market cap of $265.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.00 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 11.60%. Analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion.