Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CERS. Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.50 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.25.

Cerus Price Performance

NASDAQ CERS opened at $2.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $521.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.33 and a beta of 1.80. Cerus has a 52-week low of $1.17 and a 52-week high of $3.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.47.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.90 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 3.06%. Analysts anticipate that Cerus will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cerus news, CEO William Greenman sold 101,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $299,641.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,053,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,855,925.84. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total value of $89,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 936,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,791,237.86. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 232,283 shares of company stock valued at $684,112. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its position in Cerus by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 7,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Cerus during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cerus Company Profile

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.