Barclays PLC Raises Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,575,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 219,755 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Cerus were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Cerus by 51.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 8,411 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Cerus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the 3rd quarter worth about $121,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $35,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,596.74. This trade represents a 10.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cerus Stock Performance

NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $293.43 million, a PE ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 1.24. Cerus Co. has a 12 month low of $1.38 and a 12 month high of $2.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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.