Wasatch Advisors LP Has $12.81 Million Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,319,841 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 994,007 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 4.48% of Cerus worth $12,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Senvest Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cerus by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $9,847,000 after buying an additional 387,603 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cerus by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 263,154 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 84,723 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $376,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 6,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 9,156 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

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

Cerus Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of CERS traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 202,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,259,022. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year 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 company has a market cap of $246.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.05 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.48 and a 200 day moving average of $1.65.

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

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 note on Friday, February 21st.

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.