Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 353,453 Shares of Cerus Corporation $CERS

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,492,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 353,453 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $10,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 48.6% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Cerus by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,365 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Cerus by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,651 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Cerus by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,676 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 12,536 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CERS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Monday, September 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.25.

Cerus Price Performance

Cerus stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $2.02. 2,069,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,908,592. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Cerus Corporation has a 12 month low of $1.42 and a 12 month high of $3.47. The firm has a market cap of $407.07 million, a PE ratio of -67.33 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total value of $89,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,791,237.86. This represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on improving the safety of blood transfusions. Headquartered in Concord, California, the company develops and commercializes technologies designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and other threats to the blood supply.

Its principal product platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses pathogen-reduction technology to treat donated blood components. The system is available for platelets and plasma in multiple markets and is designed to inactivate a broad range of viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogens.