Harbour Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Merus N.V. $MRUS

Key Points

• Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merus N.V. by 69.2%, holding 14,130 shares worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 5,780 shares.
• Various institutional investors, including Paradigm Biocapital Advisors, Wellington Management, and Westfield Capital Management, also significantly raised their positions in Merus, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Merus, with a consensus "Buy" rating and a target price of $90.54, while a recent price target from Barclays set an optimistic outlook of $112.00.

Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,130 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Merus were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merus by 34.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $198,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,519 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its position in Merus by 99.4% during the first quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,369,699 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $141,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,777 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Merus by 51.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,501,220 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,186,000 after purchasing an additional 508,063 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Merus by 17.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,400,171 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $58,933,000 after purchasing an additional 211,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Siren L.L.C. increased its position in Merus by 33.0% during the first quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 1,043,467 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $43,920,000 after purchasing an additional 259,055 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Trading Up 1.4%

MRUS stock traded up $0.97 on Monday, hitting $69.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 482,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,447. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.78. Merus N.V. has a 1 year low of $33.19 and a 1 year high of $70.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.58 and a beta of 1.19.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. The business had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.77 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the company's 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,792,500. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRUS shares. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright upgraded shares of Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Merus from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.