Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 71,007 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,257,571 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 71,007 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.68% of Cerus worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CERS. Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cerus by 390.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 1,170,060 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Cerus by 658.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 263,839 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 229,074 shares during the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Cerus during the 1st quarter valued at about $405,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cerus by 938.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 215,901 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 195,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in Cerus by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 7,750,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,571,000 after purchasing an additional 182,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $290.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.08 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1.89 and its 200 day moving average is $1.92. Cerus Co. has a 12 month low of $1.32 and a 12 month high of $2.59.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $45.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.50 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 14.15% and a negative return on equity of 44.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. Research analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cerus currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 28,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.18, for a total value of $61,879.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 590,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,995.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

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.