Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 15,772 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,415,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,685,000 after acquiring an additional 69,950 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cerus by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,738,893 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,506,000 after purchasing an additional 79,505 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Cerus by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,575,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 219,755 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Cerus by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 264,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 28,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Cerus by 13.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 93,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 11,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cerus

In related news, Director Eric Bjerkholt sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total transaction of $35,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 162,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,596.74. This represents a 10.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cerus Price Performance

NASDAQ CERS opened at $1.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cerus Co. has a 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year high of $2.59. The company has a market cap of $304.57 million, a PE ratio of -14.91 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Cerus from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Cerus Company 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.