Vivek K. Jayaraman Sells 29,985 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 29,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total transaction of $43,478.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,477,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,142,128.50. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Cerus Price Performance

CERS stock remained flat at $1.45 during trading on Monday. 1,979,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,302,541. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.72 and its 200-day moving average is $1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $269.40 million, a P/E ratio of -13.18 and a beta of 1.56. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.38 and a twelve month high of $2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $50.81 million. On average, analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,589,721 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Cerus by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,813,000 after buying an additional 994,007 shares during the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,847,000 after buying an additional 387,603 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,454,525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,862,000 after buying an additional 39,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Cerus by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,738,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,506,000 after buying an additional 79,505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.