Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Sells 565,489 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lowered its holdings in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 94.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,399 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 565,489 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Merus were worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merus by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,636 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,213,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merus by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Merus by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,833 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Merus by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,517 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Merus Stock Performance

MRUS stock traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,063,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 720,344. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -10.52 and a beta of 0.94. Merus has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $61.61. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.76.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The business had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.15.

About Merus

Merus N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, engages in the development of antibody therapeutics in the Netherlands. Its bispecific antibody candidate pipeline includes Zenocutuzumab (MCLA-128), which is in a phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer, as well as in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors that harbor Neuregulin 1.