Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Sells 10,780 Shares of Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 10,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total value of $16,709.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 905,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,404,033.40. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Cerus Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.61 on Thursday. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year high of $2.59. The company has a market capitalization of $299.12 million, a P/E ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.81 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 470,178 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Cerus by 249.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 254,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 181,400 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Cerus by 121.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 595,234 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 326,605 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its position in Cerus by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 129,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 36,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cerus by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 50,817 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 16,720 shares during the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Cerus in a research note 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.