Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Acquires 79,286 Shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 273.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,281 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,286 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Merus worth $4,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,833 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Merus in the 4th quarter valued at $347,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merus by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Merus by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 93,954 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,951,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Merus by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRUS shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 target price on shares of Merus and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $84.64.

Merus Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:MRUS traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.58. The company had a trading volume of 354,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,912. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.89 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $49.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.26. Merus N.V. has a twelve month low of $33.19 and a twelve month high of $62.98.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). The firm 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 35.99% and a negative net margin of 506.73%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 34,000 shares of Merus stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.76, for a total value of $1,793,840.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

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.