IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Raises Holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,074 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,737 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Cerus were worth $61,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cerus by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,983,963 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,870,000 after buying an additional 113,292 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Cerus by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 7,750,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,649,000 after purchasing an additional 182,629 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in Cerus by 2.4% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 7,750,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,571,000 after purchasing an additional 182,629 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Cerus by 4.4% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,696,560 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,096,000 after purchasing an additional 114,628 shares during the period. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cerus by 390.4% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,060 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 21,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total transaction of $54,012.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 438,007 shares in the company, valued at $1,095,017.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 28,385 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.18, for a total value of $61,879.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 590,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,286,995.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 21,605 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $54,012.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 438,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,095,017.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of Cerus stock opened at $1.70 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.98 and a 200-day moving average of $1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $314.31 million, a PE ratio of -10.00 and a beta of 1.18. Cerus Co. has a 1-year low of $1.21 and a 1-year high of $2.59.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $45.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.50 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 44.27% and a negative net margin of 14.15%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cerus Company Profile

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.