Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Cerus Corporation $CERS

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,685,177 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 384,660 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $9,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in Cerus by 65.2% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 19,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 7,866 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. HUB Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Cerus by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 14,709 shares during the period. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cerus in the second quarter valued at $63,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cerus Price Performance

CERS opened at $2.60 on Friday. Cerus Corporation has a twelve month low of $1.12 and a twelve month high of $2.95. The firm has a market cap of $499.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.50 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.61.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $60.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.12 million. Cerus had a negative net margin of 8.01% and a negative return on equity of 27.58%. Equities research analysts expect that Cerus Corporation will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CERS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Cerus Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.