IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Increases Stock Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its stake in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 149.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,381 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Cerus were worth $135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,415,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,685,000 after buying an additional 69,950 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cerus by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,738,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,506,000 after acquiring an additional 79,505 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Cerus by 16.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,575,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 219,755 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Cerus by 12.0% during the 3rd 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 lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,589,721 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 29,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total value of $43,478.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,477,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,142,128.50. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $95,836.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 441,150 shares of company stock worth $665,210. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Cerus Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $263.82 million, a P/E ratio of -12.91 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cerus Co. has a 52 week low of $1.38 and a 52 week high of $2.54.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $50.81 million for 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

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.