Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Rating Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Cerus to “Hold” from “Buy.” Overall analyst sentiment is “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $5.25; ratings include three Buys, one Hold, and one Sell.
• Cerus shares opened at $2.33, compared with a 52-week range of $1.38 to $3.47, and the company has a market capitalization of about $469.5 million.
• The company reported quarterly revenue of $63.3 million and a loss of $0.01 per share, matching analyst expectations. An insider sold 30,000 shares, while institutional investors own 78.37% of the stock.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CERS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Freedom Broker started coverage on Cerus in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.50 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.25.

Cerus Trading Up 0.9%

CERS stock opened at $2.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83. Cerus has a 52 week low of $1.38 and a 52 week high of $3.47. The company has a market capitalization of $469.54 million, a PE ratio of -77.67 and a beta of 1.83. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $2.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.57.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $63.30 million during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cerus will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In related news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total transaction of $89,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,791,237.86. The trade was a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in shares of Cerus by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,064 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on improving the safety of blood transfusions. Headquartered in Concord, California, the company develops and commercializes technologies designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and other threats to the blood supply.

Its principal product platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses pathogen-reduction technology to treat donated blood components. The system is available for platelets and plasma in multiple markets and is designed to inactivate a broad range of viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogens.

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