Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CEO Sells 71,086 Shares of Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 71,086 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total transaction of $103,074.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,238,672 shares in the company, valued at $6,146,074.40. This trade represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

William Mariner Greenman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 7th, William Mariner Greenman sold 60,984 shares of Cerus stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total transaction of $91,476.00.
• On Tuesday, March 4th, William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of Cerus stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $35,685.65.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS traded up $0.01 on Friday, reaching $1.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 667,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,499. The stock's 50-day moving average is $1.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.75. Cerus Co. has a 52-week low of $1.38 and a 52-week high of $2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.19 million, a P/E ratio of -14.02 and a beta of 1.56.

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Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Cerus by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,797 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 5,721 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Cerus by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 209,246 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 6,633 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Cerus by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 6,665 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Cerus by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,795 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 8,458 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cerus by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,754,540 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.