Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from “hold” to “buy.” Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $5.25.
• Cerus shares opened at $2.02; the stock’s 52-week range is $1.42–$3.47, and its market capitalization is about $407 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of Cerus shares. In a disclosed transaction, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares at an average $2.98 per share.

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, September 14th. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on Cerus in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.50 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.25.

Cerus Stock Performance

CERS stock opened at $2.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.44. 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 $1.42 and a 52 week high of $3.47. The stock has a market cap of $407.07 million, a P/E ratio of -67.33 and a beta of 1.84.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,868,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Cerus during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,026,000. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 1,154.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,491,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,354,000 after buying an additional 1,372,243 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth $2,536,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth $2,283,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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