Insider Selling: Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Insider Sells $39,208.50 in Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 26,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total transaction of $39,208.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 734,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,198.50. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.38 and a one year high of $2.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The business had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.81 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion.