Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 7,953 Shares of Merus N.V. $MRUS

Key Points

• Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Merus N.V. by 12.4%, holding 56,421 shares worth approximately $2.97 million as of the latest filing.
• Multiple institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Merus during the first quarter, with Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP boosting its stake by 99.4% to own over 3.3 million shares.
• Merus reported a loss of $2.23 per share for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates, with revenue of $8.83 million against the expected $9.77 million.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 12.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,421 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 7,953 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.08% of Merus worth $2,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Merus by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 76,335 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 28,983 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,290 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $817,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS traded down $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.22. 763,846 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 610,052. Merus N.V. has a 52-week low of $33.19 and a 52-week high of $70.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.51 and a 200-day moving average of $53.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.40 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,500 shares of company stock worth $2,792,500. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRUS has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright upgraded Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 price objective on Merus in a report on Monday, August 25th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Merus from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Alliance Global Partners started coverage on Merus in a report on Monday, August 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Merus in a report on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.