Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 11,338 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 13.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,338 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cerus by 390.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cerus by 726.1% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 313,522 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 275,569 shares during the last quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 87.1% during the third quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 505,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 235,082 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Cerus by 658.9% during the second 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. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Cerus by 16.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,575,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 219,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.57 on Friday. Cerus Co. has a 52-week low of $1.38 and a 52-week high of $2.59. 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 $291.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.27 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1.71 and its 200-day moving average is $1.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In other Cerus news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total value of $35,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares in the company, valued at $288,596.74. The trade was a 10.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Cerus Company 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.