244,073 Shares in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 244,073 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $376,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.13% of Cerus at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cerus by 14.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 16.2% during 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. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at $277,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 181,913 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 101,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $95,836.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 493,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $780,301.96. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $80,981.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 400,665 shares in the company, valued at $633,050.70. The trade was a 11.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cerus Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CERS traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.31. 887,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,996. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.38 and a 200 day moving average of $1.61. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year high of $2.54. 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 stock has a market cap of $250.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.91 and a beta of 1.58.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $43.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.44 million. On average, research analysts expect that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cerus

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.