Globeflex Capital L P Acquires Shares of 522,099 Cerus Corporation $CERS

Key Points

• Globeflex Capital L P disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Cerus, buying 522,099 shares worth about $1.08 million and representing roughly 0.27% of the company.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their Cerus holdings, and hedge funds/institutions now own about 78.37% of the stock.
• Insider selling has been notable, with executives including Richard J. Benjamin and CFO Kevin Dennis Green selling shares; analysts currently rate Cerus Hold on average with a consensus price target of $4.00.

Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new stake in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 522,099 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,076,000. Globeflex Capital L P owned approximately 0.27% of Cerus as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 62,854 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 291.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 344,395 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Cerus by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 17,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 101,740 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $168,888.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 777,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,290,419.26. The trade was a 11.57% 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 127,544 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $211,723.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,040,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,727,314.66. This represents a 10.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 916,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,574,123 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Up 4.9%

NASDAQ CERS opened at $2.79 on Friday. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.15 and a 52 week high of $3.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $2.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.16. The firm has a market cap of $559.03 million, a PE ratio of -55.80 and a beta of 1.77.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Cerus Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.