Carmignac Gestion Takes $5.13 Million Position in Merus N.V. $MRUS

Key Points

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Carmignac Gestion acquired a new stake in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 121,161 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,134,000. Carmignac Gestion owned about 0.18% of Merus at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised 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 valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised 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 valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC raised its position in Merus by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 45,680 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Merus by 2.7% during the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 13,785 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Merus by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 113,056 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,754,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.49. 698,628 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 868,081. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.38. Merus N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $68.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.27 and a beta of 1.09.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.28% and a negative net margin of 685.64%.The business had revenue of $8.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 million. As a group, analysts expect that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of Merus stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright upgraded shares of Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Merus and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Merus from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.50.

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.