Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Short Interest Up 16.0% in March

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,880,000 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the March 15th total of 5,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on CERS shares. Craig Hallum started coverage on Cerus in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $3.00 price target on shares of Cerus in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $2.50 price target on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, March 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In related news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 62,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total transaction of $128,368.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,244,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,684,477.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 62,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total transaction of $128,368.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,244,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,684,477.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 26,247 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total value of $54,068.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 905,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,220.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,516 shares of company stock worth $372,912 in the last three months. 7.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cerus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 263,790 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 20,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 4,445 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Cerus by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 197,141 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 5,341 shares during the period. Finally, Bouvel Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 257,625 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 5,778 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of CERS traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $1.68. 805,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,568,622. The company has a market cap of $304.55 million, a PE ratio of -8.00 and a beta of 1.29. Cerus has a 52-week low of $1.21 and a 52-week high of $3.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.84. 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 (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $46.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.80 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 67.17% and a negative net margin of 23.98%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cerus will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.