Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases 85,392 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 280,616 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,392 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.15% of Cerus worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CERS. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Creative Planning raised 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 buying an additional 8,411 shares in the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at about $169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.53 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $1.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.81. The stock has a market cap of $284.26 million, a PE ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.29.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $288,596.74. This trade represents a 10.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.