Short Interest in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Drops By 15.5%

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, a decline of 15.5% from the March 31st total of 7,420,000 shares. Currently, 9.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 707,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Merus by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $117,722,000 after purchasing an additional 150,341 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,208 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $360,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Merus by 4,583.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,234 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 56,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $85.15.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $2.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.41. 1,141,531 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 719,668. Merus has a 1 year low of $33.19 and a 1 year high of $61.61. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $43.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.30. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of -10.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.82 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. On average, research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.