Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $29,000 Stock Holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 48.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 15,772 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,411 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its stake in Cerus by 38.4% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 35,074 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 9,737 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cerus in the third quarter worth $71,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the second quarter worth $97,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the third quarter worth $121,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Cerus Price Performance

Cerus stock opened at $1.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $304.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.91 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cerus Co. has a 12 month low of $1.38 and a 12 month high of $2.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1.71 and its 200-day moving average is $1.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $35,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $288,596.74. This represents a 10.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.