Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek K. Jayaraman Sells 29,985 Shares

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 29,985 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total transaction of $43,478.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,477,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,142,128.50. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.54. The stock had a trading volume of 667,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,499. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.75. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.38 and a one year high of $2.54. The firm has a market cap of $285.19 million, a PE ratio of -14.02 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The business had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $50.81 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 2,084.7% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 492,732 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 470,178 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 249.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 254,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 181,400 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 121.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 595,234 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 326,605 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Cerus by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 129,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 36,488 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Cerus in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

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.