Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Price Down 5.5% – Here’s Why

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)’s stock price was down 5.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $2.84 and last traded at $2.8250. Approximately 103,616 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 2,079,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CERS has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research raised Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cerus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.53 and its 200 day moving average is $2.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $562.04 million, a PE ratio of -56.10 and a beta of 1.76.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. The business had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.68 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,679 shares in the company, valued at $680,365.40. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $50,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,656,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,970,121. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,788 shares of company stock valued at $153,182. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,051 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Cerus by 1.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,365 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 6,094 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in shares of Cerus by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 142,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 6,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,651 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.