Easterly Investment Partners LLC Invests $405,000 in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 214,286 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CERS. Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new stake in Cerus during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. purchased a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. RPO LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Cerus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cerus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cerus Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $1.86. The stock had a trading volume of 308,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,273,496. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Cerus Co. has a one year low of $1.21 and a one year high of $3.08.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). Cerus had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $38.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cerus Co. will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CERS. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Cerus in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Cerus from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Cerus Profile

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.