IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Purchases 52,381 Shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its holdings in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 149.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 87,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,381 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Cerus were worth $135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 3rd quarter worth about $353,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,754,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 8,707 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in shares of Cerus by 1,182.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 132,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 122,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Cerus by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 541,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 103,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cerus news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 29,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,477,330 shares in the company, valued at $2,142,128.50. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 71,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.45, for a total transaction of $103,074.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,238,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,146,074.40. This trade represents a 1.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 441,150 shares of company stock valued at $665,210 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Cerus Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $1.42 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.72. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year high of $2.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.82 million, a PE ratio of -12.91 and a beta of 1.56.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $50.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.81 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Cerus Co. will post -0.08 EPS 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.