Vivek Jayaraman Sells 16,667 Shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares on May 1 at an average price of $3.00 for $50,001, leaving him with 1,673,374 shares (a 0.99% reduction in his stake).
• Recent results and stock metrics: Cerus reported Q1 EPS of ($0.01) vs. ($0.03) expected and revenue of $59.89M vs. $55.68M expected; shares trade near $2.59 (52-week range $1.15–$3.15) with a market cap of about $519M and a negative P/E.
• Market sentiment and ownership: Analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus "Hold" and an average target of $4.00, while institutional investors own roughly 78% of the stock and several large funds (e.g., AQR, Millennium) recently increased positions.

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) COO Vivek Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total transaction of $50,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,673,374 shares in the company, valued at $5,020,122. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of CERS stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $2.59. 2,608,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,879,811. Cerus Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $1.15 and a fifty-two week high of $3.15. The stock's fifty day moving average is $1.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.98. The company has a market cap of $518.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.80 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CERS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 62,854 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 291.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,133 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cerus by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 344,395 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Cerus by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 17,039 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by 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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