Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Short Interest Down 35.3% in June

Key Points

• Cerus short interest fell sharply in June, dropping 35.3% to 12.74 million shares as of June 30, with about 6.7% of the float still sold short.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with the stock carrying a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00 after recent upgrades and one reaffirmed sell rating.
• The company beat Q1 expectations, reporting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.01 per share and revenue of $59.89 million, while insider selling and steady institutional ownership remained notable.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 12,738,396 shares, a decline of 35.3% from the June 15th total of 19,696,885 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,078,951 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CERS. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Cerus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Trading Down 3.3%

Cerus stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.10. 784,566 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,116,530. The firm has a market cap of $622.15 million, a PE ratio of -62.10 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.37. Cerus has a 12-month low of $1.15 and a 12-month high of $3.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $99,007.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,062,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,122,832.72. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $71,527.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 966,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,971.58. This represents a 2.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 256,071 shares of company stock worth $747,894. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Cerus by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,218,330 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 39,310 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cerus by 3.8% during the first quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,114,061 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,488,000 after buying an additional 148,812 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 16.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 578,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 80,900 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Cerus by 56.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,676 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 12,536 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Cerus in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently 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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