Richard J. Benjamin Sells 51,254 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $80,981.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 400,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,050.70. The trade was a 11.34 % 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 this link.

Cerus Stock Down 5.0 %

CERS opened at $1.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.29. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.38 and a twelve month high of $2.59.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. 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 $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cerus by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,055,000 after buying an additional 2,589,721 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Cerus by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,813,000 after buying an additional 994,007 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,877,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 986,286 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 2,084.7% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 492,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 470,178 shares during the period. Finally, Senvest Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,847,000 after purchasing an additional 387,603 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cerus Company Profile

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.