Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Sold by Atle Fund Management AB

Atle Fund Management AB reduced its stake in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 43.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 27,229 shares during the period. Atle Fund Management AB owned 0.05% of Merus worth $1,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Merus during the 4th quarter worth about $347,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Merus by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 93,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,951,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Merus by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Merus during the 4th quarter worth about $433,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merus

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 value of $1,500,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,500 shares of company stock worth $4,586,340. 4.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, May 19th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merus from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Merus and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.64.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $1.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.26. 1,061,470 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 733,967. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.20. Merus N.V. has a 52-week low of $33.19 and a 52-week high of $63.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 1.00.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 35.99% and a negative net margin of 506.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Merus 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.