Granahan Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Granahan Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,562 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 8,689 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned 0.15% of Merus worth $4,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position 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 valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Merus by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 113,056 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,754,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merus by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,636 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Merus by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merus by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,208 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRUS has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, March 28th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. 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, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $85.15.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS traded down $0.52 on Wednesday, reaching $40.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 655,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 718,474. The stock's 50-day moving average is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.92. Merus has a 52-week low of $33.19 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.23 and a beta of 0.94.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.17) by ($0.23). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The business had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.82 million. Equities analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.