Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stake in Cerus Corporation $CERS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 25.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,251,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 425,186 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.65% of Cerus worth $2,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CERS. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cerus in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cerus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of Cerus stock opened at $2.92 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.28. Cerus Corporation has a 12 month low of $1.15 and a 12 month high of $3.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $585.08 million, a P/E ratio of -58.40 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. As a group, analysts predict that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cerus news, COO Vivek K. Jayaraman sold 16,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.00, for a total value of $50,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,656,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,970,121. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $53,180.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 261,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $680,365.40. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 53,788 shares of company stock worth $153,182 in the last 90 days. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CERS. BTIG Research raised shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cerus has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Cerus Company 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.