Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its position in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS – Get Rating) by 16.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,491,729 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 494,763 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 1.41% of Cerus worth $8,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Cerus during the third quarter valued at $87,000. Lesa Sroufe & Co purchased a new stake in Cerus during the third quarter valued at $1,110,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Cerus by 21.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 248,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $893,000 after acquiring an additional 44,599 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Cerus by 9.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 328,358 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,737,000 after buying an additional 29,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its position in Cerus by 3.8% in the second quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 233,339 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after buying an additional 8,516 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In other news, Director Daniel N. Swisher, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.91, for a total value of $48,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 113,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,989.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CERS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Cerus in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, December 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their price target on Cerus to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 15th.

Cerus Stock Performance

NASDAQ CERS opened at $3.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $670.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.18 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.31. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $3.25 and a twelve month high of $6.45.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $39.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.00 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 48.32% and a negative net margin of 24.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cerus Profile

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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.