Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO Sells 23,023 Shares of Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total value of $35,685.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,230,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,006,500. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Cerus Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.61 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.80. The company has a market cap of $299.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cerus Co. has a 12 month low of $1.38 and a 12 month high of $2.59.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CERS. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cerus by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,055,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,721 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,813,000 after purchasing an additional 994,007 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,877,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 986,286 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 2,084.7% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 492,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 470,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,847,000 after purchasing an additional 387,603 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Cerus Company Profile

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.