Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 348,322 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS - Free Report) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,771,655 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 348,322 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.95% of Cerus worth $2,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Cerus by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,797 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 5,721 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 209,246 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 6,633 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,787 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 6,665 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,795 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 8,458 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Cerus by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 103,032 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 9,010 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company's stock.

Cerus Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of CERS stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1.35. The company had a trading volume of 273,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,256,499. Cerus Co. has a 1-year low of $1.12 and a 1-year high of $2.54. 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 firm has a market cap of $257.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.23 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.39 and a 200 day moving average of $1.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $43.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.44 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 23,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total transaction of $33,563.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 912,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,323,280.15. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $80,981.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 400,665 shares in the company, valued at $633,050.70. This trade represents a 11.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 441,150 shares of company stock worth $665,210. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Cerus 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.