Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 868,457 Shares of Cerus Corporation $CERS

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 868,457 Cerus shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $2.54 million and representing about 0.43% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 78.37% of CERS.
• Cerus reported quarterly revenue of $63.3 million and an adjusted loss of $0.01 per share, matching analyst expectations. Shares opened at $2.38, within a 52-week range of $1.38 to $3.47.
• Analyst views remain mixed: three analysts rate Cerus a Buy, one a Hold, and one a Sell, resulting in a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $5.25 versus the current share price.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 868,457 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,536,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.43% of Cerus at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cerus by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 5,365 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 6,651 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,676 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 12,536 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Cerus in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $2.38 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $479.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.33 and a beta of 1.80. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.38 and a 52 week high of $3.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 3.06%.The firm had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cerus news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total transaction of $89,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,791,237.86. The trade was a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CERS. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Cerus in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.50 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.25.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on improving the safety of blood transfusions. The company develops and commercializes technologies designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by inactivating certain viruses, bacteria, parasites and white blood cells in donated blood components.

Its principal product platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses amotosalen and ultraviolet A light to treat blood components. The system is used with platelet and plasma components, and Cerus has also developed applications for red blood cells and cryoprecipitation.

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