Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Purchased by Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 4.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,696,560 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,628 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Cerus were worth $5,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CERS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Cerus by 4.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 192,873 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 8,982 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC purchased a new position in Cerus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Cerus by 451.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 12,179 shares during the period. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 4.7% during the first quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 269,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 12,224 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Cerus by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 188,702 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 14,433 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CERS. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Cerus in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised 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 Stock Performance

Shares of CERS stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 456,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,256,697. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.93. Cerus Co. has a 12-month low of $1.21 and a 12-month high of $3.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.41.

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

About Cerus

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.