Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Purchased by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,010 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Cerus were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,575,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 219,755 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,589,721 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $376,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total value of $35,685.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,230,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,006,500. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $95,836.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 493,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,301.96. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210 in the last quarter. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS opened at $1.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.60 million, a P/E ratio of -11.73 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year high of $2.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.61.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $43.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.44 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cerus

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.