Richard J. Benjamin Sells 51,254 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $80,981.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 400,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $633,050.70. This trade represents a 11.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Cerus Stock Down 1.3 %

CERS traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $1.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,867,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,505,992. The stock has a market cap of $280.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.56. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year 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 business's 50 day moving average is $1.74 and its 200 day moving average is $1.79.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 11.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Cerus by 1.2% in the fourth 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. lifted its holdings in Cerus by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 209,246 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 6,633 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cerus by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 6,665 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Cerus by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 8,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Cerus by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,795 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 8,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Cerus

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.