Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Position in Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Cerus Co. (NASDAQ:CERS) by 6.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,040,287 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 457,953 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Cerus were worth $12,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 451.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 12,179 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Cerus by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 8,411 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cerus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Cerus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Institutional investors own 78.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 28,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.18, for a total value of $61,879.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 590,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,286,995.70. This represents a 4.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cerus Price Performance

Shares of CERS stock opened at $1.72 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $319.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.64 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.78 and its 200 day moving average is $1.92. Cerus Co. has a twelve month low of $1.38 and a twelve month high of $2.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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.