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

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,516,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 193,353 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $8,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cerus in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Cerus Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CERS opened at $3.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $615.14 million, a P/E ratio of -61.40 and a beta of 1.77. Cerus Corporation has a 1 year low of $1.15 and a 1 year high of $3.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.35.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. Research analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research raised Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.00.

Insider Activity

In other Cerus news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 24,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $71,527.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 966,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,971.58. This trade represents a 2.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William Mariner Greenman sold 101,919 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $299,641.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,053,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,855,925.84. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 256,071 shares of company stock worth $747,894 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

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.