Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Short Interest Up 6.8% in May

Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,420,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the May 15th total of 6,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $312.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.94 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.79 and its 200 day moving average is $1.94. Cerus has a twelve month low of $1.21 and a twelve month high of $3.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $38.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 19.27%. Research analysts expect that Cerus will post -0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Senvest Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cerus by 33.2% in the third quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 7,258,826 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,738 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the third quarter worth about $2,928,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Cerus by 1,878.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,292,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,093,000 after buying an additional 1,226,757 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in Cerus by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,914,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,175,000 after buying an additional 852,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Cerus by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,530,019 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,105,000 after buying an additional 656,971 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CERS shares. Craig Hallum started coverage on Cerus in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Cerus from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $2.50 price objective on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

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.