Affinity Asset Advisors LLC Sells 67,279 Shares of Merus N.V. $MRUS

Key Points

• Affinity Asset Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Merus N.V. by 17.3%, selling 67,279 shares during the first quarter, leaving the fund with approximately 321,962 shares.
• Merus reported a quarterly loss of (2.23) EPS, missing analysts' estimates, with revenues of $8.83 million, also below expectations.
• Institutional investors now own 96.14% of Merus stock, with several hedge funds dramatically increasing their positions, including a 2,153.6% boost from GAMMA Investing LLC.

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,962 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 67,279 shares during the quarter. Merus accounts for 1.3% of Affinity Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Merus worth $13,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $347,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Merus by 324.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,935 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Merus by 2,153.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Merus by 30.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in 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 buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRUS. BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 price target on shares of Merus and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. HC Wainwright upgraded shares of Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.75.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.84. The stock had a trading volume of 542,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,319. Merus N.V. has a 52 week low of $33.19 and a 52 week high of $69.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $61.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of -11.97 and a beta of 1.09.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($1.06). Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.28% and a negative net margin of 685.64%.The company had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 million. Analysts forecast that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of Merus stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,500 shares of company stock worth $4,586,340. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merus Company Profile

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.