781,800 Shares in Cerus Corporation $CERS Bought by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 781,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,000. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.39% of Cerus as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Cerus during the second quarter valued at about $160,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Cerus by 1,154.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,491,119 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,354,000 after buying an additional 1,372,243 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth about $1,372,000. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth about $1,525,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Price Performance

CERS opened at $2.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $552.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -91.33 and a beta of 1.81. Cerus Corporation has a 1 year low of $1.17 and a 1 year high of $3.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.45.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 3.06%.The firm had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.90 million. Analysts forecast that Cerus Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CERS shares. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.50 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cerus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 33,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $99,007.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,062,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,122,832.72. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $124,535.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares in the company, valued at $4,981,383.12. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 269,404 shares of company stock worth $787,293 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.