Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS)

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $4.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 135.99% from the stock’s current price.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CERS traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.70. 1,329,892 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,461,574. Cerus has a 52 week low of $1.38 and a 52 week high of $2.59. 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 $314.78 million, a PE ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.84.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.19% and a negative return on equity of 37.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In other news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total value of $35,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 162,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $288,596.74. This represents a 10.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,797 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 5,721 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 209,246 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 6,633 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 6,665 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 51.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 8,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 8,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

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.