Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Purchased by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC raised its position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 541,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 103,596 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Cerus were worth $942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 6.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,257,571 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 71,007 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cerus by 390.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 1,170,060 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Cerus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $353,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 10.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 73,372 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 7,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Cerus by 51.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 8,411 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cerus Stock Up 5.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.80 on Tuesday. Cerus Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.38 and a fifty-two week high of $2.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.91. 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 $334.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.36 and a beta of 1.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $35,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,596.74. This represents a 10.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

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.