SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Buys New Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 180,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Cerus as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Creative Planning grew its position in Cerus by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 8,411 shares in the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at about $169,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cerus news, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $80,981.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 162,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,596.74. The trade was a 10.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 165,713 shares of company stock worth $264,812. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Cerus in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Cerus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.61 on Thursday. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.38 and a twelve month high of $2.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1.74 and a 200-day moving average of $1.80. The firm has a market cap of $299.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.81 million. Analysts forecast that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.