Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Short Interest Update

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,930,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the October 15th total of 7,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other Cerus news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 28,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.18, for a total value of $61,879.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 590,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,995.70. The trade was a 4.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 451.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 12,179 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Cerus by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 8,411 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59. Cerus has a one year low of $1.38 and a one year high of $2.59. The firm has a market cap of $310.14 million, a P/E ratio of -15.18 and a beta of 1.20.

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.