Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CFO Sells 23,147 Shares of Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 23,147 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total value of $33,563.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 912,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,323,280.15. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Kevin Dennis Green also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 7th, Kevin Dennis Green sold 31,148 shares of Cerus stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total value of $46,722.00.
• On Monday, March 3rd, Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of Cerus stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $95,836.48.

Cerus Price Performance

Cerus stock remained flat at $1.45 during trading hours on Monday. 1,979,196 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,302,541. The company has a market capitalization of $269.40 million, a P/E ratio of -13.18 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.72 and a 200 day moving average of $1.76. Cerus Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.38 and a fifty-two week high of $2.54.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $50.81 million during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,055,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,721 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,813,000 after acquiring an additional 994,007 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,877,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after acquiring an additional 986,286 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 2,084.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,847,000 after acquiring an additional 387,603 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Cerus in a report 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.