Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Coverage Initiated at Craig Hallum

Equities researchers at Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Craig Hallum’s price objective points to a potential upside of 185.71% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CERS. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $2.50 target price on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th.

Cerus Trading Up 3.2 %

CERS stock opened at $1.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.14. Cerus has a one year low of $1.21 and a one year high of $3.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $2.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $317.25 million, a PE ratio of -8.33 and a beta of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 23.98% and a negative return on equity of 67.17%. The company had revenue of $46.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.80 million. As a group, analysts predict that Cerus will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other Cerus news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 62,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total transaction of $128,368.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,244,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,684,477.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 62,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total transaction of $128,368.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,244,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,684,477.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 21,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.97, for a total transaction of $42,349.09. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 618,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,218,937.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 177,516 shares of company stock valued at $372,912. 7.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CERS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 81,648 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 13,536 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Cerus by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 588,272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 8,628 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Cerus by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 133,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 50,581 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 55.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 33,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Cerus by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 124,587 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 19,729 shares in 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.