Short Interest in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Decreases By 41.9%

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 10,766,701 shares, a drop of 41.9% from the May 14th total of 18,522,745 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,541,848 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 5.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CERS. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In other Cerus news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 261,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $680,365.40. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $50,001.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,656,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,970,121. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,788 shares of company stock worth $153,182 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cerus Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $2.53. 1,175,460 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,995,949. The firm has a market capitalization of $505.93 million, a PE ratio of -50.50 and a beta of 1.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.21. Cerus has a 12-month low of $1.15 and a 12-month high of $3.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cerus will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.