Short Interest in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Increases By 16.2%

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,800,000 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the December 15th total of 6,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Cerus Price Performance

NASDAQ:CERS traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $1.79. 1,057,729 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,131,067. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.89. Cerus has a 12 month low of $1.38 and a 12 month high of $2.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $35,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $288,596.74. This trade represents a 10.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 128,836 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 59,156 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at $169,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 13.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 93,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 11,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cerus by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,415,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,685,000 after buying an additional 69,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.