Cerus Corporation $CERS Stock Purchased by State Street Corp

Key Points

• State Street increased its Cerus stake by 12.8% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 4.75 million shares, or about 2.36% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 78.37% of Cerus.
• Cerus reported quarterly revenue of $63.3 million and an adjusted loss of $0.01 per share, matching analyst expectations. Analysts project a full-year loss of $0.04 per share.
• Analyst views remain mixed, with ratings ranging from sell to buy; the stock has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $5.25, compared with a recent price of $2.62.

State Street Corp lifted its position in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) by 12.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,753,962 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 539,060 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 2.36% of Cerus worth $13,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the second quarter worth approximately $64,868,000. Senvest Management LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 4,114,061 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,488,000 after purchasing an additional 148,812 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth $7,026,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Cerus by 1,154.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,491,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Cerus during the second quarter valued at $2,536,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $2.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.49. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.38 and a 52 week high of $3.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $527.98 million, a P/E ratio of -87.33 and a beta of 1.80.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total value of $89,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,791,237.86. This trade represents a 3.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $124,535.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,694,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,981,383.12. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 232,283 shares of company stock worth $684,112 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CERS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, September 14th. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.50 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Cerus 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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