The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $1.77 Million Holdings in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,085 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 9,204 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.06% of Merus worth $1,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Merus by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $146,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRUS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $85.15.

Merus Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of MRUS stock traded down $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.40. 655,348 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 717,961. Merus has a twelve month low of $33.19 and a twelve month high of $61.61. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $43.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -10.23 and a beta of 0.94.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 EPS 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.