Avior Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Merus N.V. $MRUS

Key Points

• Avior Wealth Management LLC has made a new investment in Merus N.V., acquiring 6,909 shares valued at approximately $363,000 during the second quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Merus, with some seeing boosts of over 2,150% in the first quarter alone.
• Merus's recent earnings report revealed a larger than expected loss per share of ($2.23), compared to the consensus estimate of ($1.17), and revenue of $8.83 million, missing analyst expectations of $9.77 million.

Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,909 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its position in Merus by 21.9% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,753 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Merus by 955.3% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Merus during the first quarter worth $118,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MRUS. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (down from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday. William Blair cut Merus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut Merus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $97.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 48,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,792,500 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Merus Trading Up 0.5%

Merus stock opened at $94.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.12. Merus N.V. has a 52 week low of $33.19 and a 52 week high of $94.56.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($1.06). The business had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

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.

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