Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 21,639 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 97,030 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 55,983 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings 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 valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 6,633 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market cap of $256.39 million, a PE ratio of -12.55 and a beta of 1.56. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.34 and a 1 year high of $2.54.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.81 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total value of $35,685.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,230,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,006,500. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the business’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 value of $80,981.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 400,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,050.70. This represents a 11.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 441,150 shares of company stock worth $665,210 in the last quarter. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 target price 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.