Richard J. Benjamin Sells 26,139 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Stock

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 26,139 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Cerus Stock Performance

CERS traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $1.47. 1,812,528 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,306,882. The stock has a market cap of $273.11 million, a P/E ratio of -13.36 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.74 and a 200 day moving average of $1.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cerus Co. has a 52 week low of $1.38 and a 52 week high of $2.54.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its 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 return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 11.60%. The firm had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.81 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.