Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Cerus has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from five analysts, with two buys, one strong buy, one hold and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $5.25, versus a recent share price of $2.69.
• Cerus reported quarterly EPS of -$0.01, in line with estimates, while revenue of $63.3 million exceeded expectations of $62.9 million. Analysts expect a full-year loss of approximately $0.04 per share.
• Institutional investors own 78.37% of Cerus, with several funds recently building positions, while insiders sold 269,404 shares worth $787,293 during the last quarter—sales attributed to tax withholding on vested equity awards.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.25.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Freedom Broker raised shares of Cerus to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $6.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Cerus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th.

Cerus Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CERS opened at $2.69 on Tuesday. Cerus has a one year low of $1.17 and a one year high of $3.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $542.09 million, a PE ratio of -89.67 and a beta of 1.81. The business's fifty day moving average price is $2.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.44.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.90 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 3.06% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cerus will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 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 $124,535.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,981,383.12. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 101,919 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $299,641.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,053,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,855,925.84. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 269,404 shares of company stock valued at $787,293. Insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at $1,076,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth $7,026,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter valued at about $461,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Cerus by 227.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,354,000 after buying an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 578,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 80,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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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