353,453 Cerus Corporation $CERS Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,492,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 353,453 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 2.23% of Cerus worth $10,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERS. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Cerus by 60.2% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 144,440 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 54,275 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Cerus by 12.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,753,962 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,882,000 after purchasing an additional 539,060 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Cerus by 99.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 109,396 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 54,457 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its stake in Cerus by 48.6% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 15,064 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cerus in the second quarter valued at approximately $108,000. 78.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cerus

In related news, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total value of $89,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 936,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,791,237.86. This represents a 3.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Cerus in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.50 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cerus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.25.

Cerus Stock Performance

Cerus stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.02. 2,069,439 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,908,592. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.44. The firm has a market cap of $407.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.33 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.83. Cerus Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.42 and a 52 week high of $3.47.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on improving the safety of blood transfusions. Headquartered in Concord, California, the company develops and commercializes technologies designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and other threats to the blood supply.

Its principal product platform is the INTERCEPT Blood System, which uses pathogen-reduction technology to treat donated blood components. The system is available for platelets and plasma in multiple markets and is designed to inactivate a broad range of viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogens.