Cerus Corporation (CERS) - What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Cerus, with three buys, one hold and one sell among five firms. The average 12-month price target is $5.25, while Freedom Broker set the highest cited target at $6.50.
• Cerus opened at $2.26, well below its 52-week high of $3.47. In its latest quarter, the company met the expected loss of $0.01 per share and reported $63.3 million in revenue, slightly above estimates.
• Institutional ownership is substantial at 78.37%, including new stakes from BlackRock, Ieq Capital, Bank of America and Primecap. An insider separately sold 30,000 shares at an average price of $2.98.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.25.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CERS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Freedom Broker started coverage on Cerus in a report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.50 price objective for the company.

Cerus Price Performance

CERS opened at $2.26 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.54. 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 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year high of $3.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $455.44 million, a PE ratio of -75.33 and a beta of 1.83.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 3.06% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $63.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.90 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cerus will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total transaction of $89,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 936,657 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the second quarter valued at about $64,868,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,026,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Cerus by 1,154.3% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,491,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,243 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,536,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Cerus in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,283,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company that develops and commercializes technologies intended to improve the safety of donated blood components. Its primary platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which is designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by inactivating viruses, bacteria, parasites and contaminating white blood cells in donated blood products.

The INTERCEPT portfolio includes systems for treating platelet and plasma components, as well as technologies developed for red blood cells.

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