Primecap Management Co. CA Cuts Holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 81.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,544,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,999,700 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.83% of Cerus worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cerus by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,415,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,685,000 after acquiring an additional 69,950 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Cerus by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,738,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,506,000 after purchasing an additional 79,505 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Cerus by 16.2% during 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. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Cerus by 12.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 264,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 28,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cerus by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,814,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,055,000 after buying an additional 2,589,721 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.26 million, a PE ratio of -13.91 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1.71 and its 200 day moving average is $1.75. Cerus Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.38 and a fifty-two week high of $2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cerus news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $95,836.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 493,862 shares in the company, valued at $780,301.96. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 23,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.55, for a total transaction of $35,685.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.