Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Merus N.V. (NASDAQ: MRUS) reached a new 52-week high of $94.63, with significant trading volume of approximately 2.48 million shares.
• Recent analyst reports show mixed ratings for MRUS, with four analysts giving a Buy rating, fourteen giving a Hold rating, and one assigning a Sell rating.
• The company's latest earnings report indicated a net loss of ($2.23) per share, missing analyst expectations, and a revenue of $8.83 million, which also fell short of projections.

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $94.63 and last traded at $94.56, with a volume of 2480498 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $94.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRUS shares. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Merus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $97.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. HC Wainwright cut shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Lifesci Capital restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merus presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.12.

Merus Stock Up 0.2%

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.20 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merus by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $198,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,519 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP grew its position in Merus by 99.4% in the 1st quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,369,699 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $141,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,777 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Merus by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,225,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $117,048,000 after purchasing an additional 351,616 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Merus by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,042,388 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $107,430,000 after purchasing an additional 541,168 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Merus by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,528,587 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,404,000 after purchasing an additional 483,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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