Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stake Boosted by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 87.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 883,565 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 411,184 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 1.29% of Merus worth $37,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 4,583.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,234 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 56,012 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Merus by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 48,268 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,030,000 after buying an additional 10,842 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Merus in the 4th quarter worth $347,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Merus by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 93,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,951,000 after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRUS shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merus presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.54.

Merus Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:MRUS traded down $0.80 on Wednesday, hitting $43.21. 1,156,790 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,970. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of -10.94 and a beta of 0.94. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.73 and a 200-day moving average of $43.60.

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). The business had revenue of $26.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.82 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. As a group, analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.