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

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $80,981.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 400,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,050.70. This trade represents a 11.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Cerus Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.61 on Thursday. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.38 and a one year high of $2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market cap of $299.12 million, a P/E ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.80.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.81 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CERS. Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $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.