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

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,685,177 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 384,660 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 2.97% of Cerus worth $9,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in Cerus by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 104,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 62,854 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cerus by 291.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,133 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 12.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,222,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 344,395 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Cerus by 5.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 251,907 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 13,112 shares in the last quarter. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CERS. Wall Street Zen raised Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cerus in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Cerus Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CERS opened at $2.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Cerus Corporation has a 52-week low of $1.12 and a 52-week high of $2.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $499.43 million, a P/E ratio of -32.50 and a beta of 1.52.

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

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.