BTIG Research Upgrades Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) to "Buy"

Key Points

• BTIG Research upgraded Cerus to a "Buy" with a $4.00 target, implying roughly a 97% upside from the current share price.
• Analysts are split (two Buy, two Sell) leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and a $4.00 consensus price target; shares opened at $2.03 (up ~5.7%) after Cerus slightly beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.
• Insiders have sold about 1.19 million shares in the past 90 days while institutional investors own roughly 78.37% of the company, signaling high institutional concentration amid recent insider selling.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at BTIG Research from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage presently has a $4.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. BTIG Research's target price would indicate a potential upside of 97.04% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Cerus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cerus has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Up 5.7%

CERS opened at $2.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $406.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.38 and a beta of 1.63. The company's 50-day moving average price is $1.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.98. Cerus has a twelve month low of $1.15 and a twelve month high of $2.96.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 26.09% and a negative net margin of 7.58%.The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.68 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cerus will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cerus news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 447,757 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $743,276.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,998,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,297,498.38. The trade was a 8.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 101,740 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total transaction of $168,888.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 777,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,290,419.26. This represents a 11.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,194,282 shares of company stock valued at $2,106,290 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.

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