Millennium Management LLC Boosts Stake in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) by 52.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,877,932 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 986,286 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 1.55% of Cerus worth $4,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Cerus by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 128,836 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 59,156 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Cerus by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,795 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 8,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,169,487 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 26,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Cerus Trading Up 9.1%

NASDAQ CERS traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.44. 1,451,118 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,275,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market cap of $275.27 million, a P/E ratio of -13.09 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.56. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.12 and a one 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 40.55% and a negative net margin of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $43.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.44 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other Cerus news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 18,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total value of $27,476.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 715,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,037,982.50. This represents a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 29,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total value of $43,478.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,477,330 shares in the company, valued at $2,142,128.50. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 295,437 shares of company stock valued at $435,997 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

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.