Senvest Management LLC Purchases 387,603 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Senvest Management LLC boosted its position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,393,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 387,603 shares during the quarter. Senvest Management LLC owned approximately 3.44% of Cerus worth $9,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CERS. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Cerus by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 263,154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 84,723 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter valued at $376,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Cerus by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 6,665 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cerus by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,787 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 9,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Cerus by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 103,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 9,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cerus Price Performance

NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.39 million, a PE ratio of -12.55 and a beta of 1.70. Cerus Co. has a 1-year low of $1.12 and a 1-year high of $2.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.67. 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 (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $50.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.81 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 11.60% and a negative return on equity of 40.55%. On average, research analysts expect that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 60,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $780,301.96. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard J. Benjamin sold 51,254 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $80,981.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 400,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,050.70. This trade represents a 11.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210 over the last 90 days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.