TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 343,705 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,510 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.50% of Merus worth $14,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Merus by 2,153.6% during 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 during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Merus by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $84,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.76, for a total value of $1,793,840.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,086,340. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRUS shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merus from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 target price on shares of Merus and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.64.

Merus Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MRUS traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.99. 495,475 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 732,228. Merus N.V. has a 1-year low of $33.19 and a 1-year high of $62.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of -13.48 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.76 and a 200 day moving average of $45.66.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Merus had a negative return on equity of 35.99% and a negative net margin of 506.73%. The business had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merus Company 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.