Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Cerus short interest fell sharply in May, dropping 41.9% to 10.77 million shares, or about 5.6% of the float. The short-interest ratio is now 4.2 days based on average trading volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but improving, with BTIG Research and Wall Street Zen both upgrading the stock to Buy, while Zacks moved it to Hold and Weiss Ratings kept a Sell rating. The consensus view remains Hold with an average price target of $4.00.
• Recent results were better than expected, as Cerus reported a smaller-than-forecast quarterly loss of $0.01 per share on revenue of $59.89 million. However, insiders have recently sold shares, including the COO and a director.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 10,766,701 shares, a drop of 41.9% from the May 14th total of 18,522,745 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,541,848 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $2.56 on Friday. Cerus has a 52 week low of $1.15 and a 52 week high of $3.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $512.95 million, a P/E ratio of -51.20 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative net margin of 4.41% and a negative return on equity of 15.18%. The business had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.68 million. On average, analysts expect that Cerus will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In related news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total transaction of $50,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,656,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,970,121. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 261,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $680,365.40. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,788 shares of company stock valued at $153,182 over the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,051 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 5,365 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,556 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 142,958 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 6,415 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,651 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Company Profile

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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