Insiders Sold Cerus Prematurely At US$1.64 With Stock Trading Higher

Cerus Corporation's (NASDAQ:CERS) value has fallen 12% in the last week, but insiders who sold US$119k worth of stock over the last year have had less success. Insiders would probably have been better off holding on to their shares given that the average selling price of US$1.64 is still lower than the current share price.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Cerus

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Legal Officer, Chrystal Jensen, sold US$83k worth of shares at a price of US$1.59 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$1.37. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

In total, Cerus insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

View our latest analysis for Cerus

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Insider Ownership Of Cerus

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 3.3% of Cerus shares, worth about US$8.9m, according to our data. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Cerus Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Cerus insiders. We also note that, as far as we can see, insider ownership is fairly low, compared to other companies. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Cerus that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.