Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its position in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,428,933 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 220,300 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 1.85% of Cerus worth $5,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CERS. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in 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 raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,589,721 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $81,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $376,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $35,685.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,230,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,006,500. This represents a 0.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $95,836.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 493,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $780,301.96. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 441,150 shares of company stock worth $665,210 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CERS traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $1.34. 917,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,251,619. 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 firm has a market cap of $256.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.18 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.60. Cerus Co. has a 1-year low of $1.12 and a 1-year high of $2.54.

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

Cerus 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.