Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 34.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,044,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 548,750 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.51% of Merus worth $43,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Merus by 2,153.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Merus by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the business's 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 82,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,586,340 over the last three months. 4.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of Merus stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.56. 664,677 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 679,176. Merus N.V. has a 12-month low of $33.19 and a 12-month high of $67.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.07 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.76.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MRUS. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 target price on Merus and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.40.

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.