Wellington Management Group LLP Has $198.59 Million Stock Position in Merus N.V. $MRUS

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Merus N.V. by 34.9%, acquiring over 1.2 million shares, which brings its total ownership to approximately 6.82% of the company.
• Multiple institutional investors have also made significant changes to their stakes in Merus, with firms like Boxer Capital Management and Westfield Capital investing heavily in the company.
• Despite a high average rating of "Buy" from analysts, Merus reported a significantly larger-than-expected loss of ($2.23) EPS in its latest quarterly earnings, missing estimates by ($1.06).

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,220,519 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 6.82% of Merus worth $198,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Merus by 97.3% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 172,063 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,242,000 after acquiring an additional 84,848 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Merus by 955.3% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Merus by 5.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 828,217 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $34,860,000 after acquiring an additional 41,852 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merus by 9.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,101 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake 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 valued at $63,186,000 after acquiring an additional 508,063 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merus

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.76, for a total transaction of $1,793,840.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,500 shares of company stock worth $4,586,340. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merus Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ MRUS traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.49. 698,628 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 585,369. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of -12.27 and a beta of 1.09. Merus N.V. has a one year low of $33.19 and a one year high of $68.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.91 and a 200-day moving average of $50.44.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($1.06). Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.28% and a negative net margin of 685.64%.The firm had revenue of $8.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRUS shares. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright upgraded Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Merus from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $88.50.

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.