Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Acquired by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 136.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,030 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,983 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cerus were worth $149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cerus by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,055,000 after buying an additional 2,589,721 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,415,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,685,000 after purchasing an additional 69,950 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Cerus by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,738,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,506,000 after purchasing an additional 79,505 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,169,487 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 26,748 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cerus by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,754,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after buying an additional 8,707 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $80,981.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 400,665 shares in the company, valued at $633,050.70. This represents a 11.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total value of $35,685.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,230,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,006,500. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 441,150 shares of company stock worth $665,210. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Cerus Stock Up 0.7 %

CERS opened at $1.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.38 and a twelve month high of $2.54. The company has a market cap of $267.54 million, a PE ratio of -13.09 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.72.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 11.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cerus 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.