Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Cerus Corporation $CERS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 469,918 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,868,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,026,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cerus by 291.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares during the last quarter. Kotler Kevin purchased a new position in Cerus in the 4th quarter worth $2,084,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 227.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,142,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after buying an additional 793,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $2.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $2.84 and its 200 day moving average is $2.46. Cerus Corporation has a one year low of $1.17 and a one year high of $3.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $534.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.33 and a beta of 1.81.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CERS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cerus currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.25.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $124,535.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,694,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,981,383.12. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total value of $89,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 936,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,791,237.86. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 252,737 shares of company stock valued at $737,292. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

About Cerus

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.