Primecap Management Co. CA Takes Position in Cerus Corporation $CERS

Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 781,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 152.4% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 62,854 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 291.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 1,064,133 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after buying an additional 344,395 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Cerus by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 268,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 17,039 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 42,359 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $124,535.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,694,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,981,383.12. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total value of $53,180.40. Following the sale, the director owned 261,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $680,365.40. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 269,404 shares of company stock worth $787,293. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CERS shares. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Cerus in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.50 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Cerus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cerus currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.25.

Cerus Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CERS opened at $2.74 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $552.16 million, a P/E ratio of -91.33 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.17 and a 52 week high of $3.47.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 3.06%.The business had revenue of $63.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.90 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cerus Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.