Wasatch Advisors LP Has $14.11 Million Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,530,019 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 656,971 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 3.60% of Cerus worth $14,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. RPO LLC acquired a new position in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,000. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. acquired a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cerus by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,914,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,175,000 after purchasing an additional 852,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In other Cerus news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 21,497 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.97, for a total transaction of $42,349.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 618,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,218,937.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 21,497 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.97, for a total transaction of $42,349.09. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 618,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,218,937.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 62,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.06, for a total value of $128,368.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,244,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,684,477.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,138 shares of company stock valued at $302,405 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Cerus Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CERS traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $1.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 75,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,699. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.21 and a twelve month high of $3.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.80 and a 200-day moving average of $1.93.

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