Easterly Investment Partners LLC Has $411,000 Holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 266,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 46,916 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Cerus were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CERS. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in Cerus by 149.3% in the fourth quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 87,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 52,381 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cerus by 126.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 181,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 101,550 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 119,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 38,777 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $81,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS opened at $1.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $267.54 million, a PE ratio of -13.09 and a beta of 1.56. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year high of $2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.72.

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

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total value of $35,685.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,230,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,006,500. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $95,836.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 493,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,301.96. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Cerus

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.