Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Short Interest Up 6.2% in September

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) saw a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,040,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the September 15th total of 6,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cerus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 28,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.18, for a total value of $61,879.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 590,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,286,995.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 28,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.18, for a total value of $61,879.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 590,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,286,995.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 21,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $54,012.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 438,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,095,017.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cerus

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Cerus by 451.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 12,179 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Cerus by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 8,411 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $97,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cerus Trading Down 9.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.93. Cerus has a 52-week low of $1.21 and a 52-week high of $2.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.37 million, a P/E ratio of -9.59 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $45.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.50 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 44.27% and a negative net margin of 14.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cerus will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.