Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Sold by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,461,684 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 578,603 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned 3.48% of Cerus worth $9,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In other Cerus news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 33,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total value of $50,998.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,507,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,260,972.50. This represents a 2.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $35,685.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,230,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,006,500. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210 in the last three months. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Cerus Price Performance

CERS remained flat at $1.53 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 1,732,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,497. The company has a market capitalization of $284.26 million, a P/E ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.56. Cerus Co. has a 52-week low of $1.38 and a 52-week high of $2.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.75.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.