Cerus Corporation (CERS) - What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Cerus has an average “Hold” rating from five firms—three Buys, one Hold and one Sell—with an average 12-month price target of $5.25.
• Shares opened at $2.02, below their 50- and 200-day moving averages of $2.42 and $2.44, respectively; the stock’s 52-week range is $1.42–$3.47.
• Institutional investors own 78.37% of Cerus, with several firms recently increasing or initiating positions. Insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares and retained 936,657 shares after the transaction.

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

A number of research analysts have commented on CERS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Freedom Broker began coverage on Cerus in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.50 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, September 14th.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of Cerus stock opened at $2.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $407.94 million, a P/E ratio of -67.33 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.44. Cerus has a fifty-two week low of $1.42 and a fifty-two week high of $3.47.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total value of $89,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,791,237.86. This trade represents 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 available at the SEC website. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth $64,868,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Cerus by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,753,962 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,882,000 after acquiring an additional 539,060 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cerus by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,492,985 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,693,000 after acquiring an additional 353,453 shares during the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cerus by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,114,061 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,488,000 after acquiring an additional 148,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,026,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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