Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $95.04 and last traded at $94.89, with a volume of 2854732 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, August 25th. Lifesci Capital reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.12.

Merus Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.55.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued 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). Merus had a negative net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. The company had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 million. Analysts expect that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Merus by 2,153.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merus by 273.4% during the 1st quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 108,281 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 79,286 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in shares of Merus by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $589,000. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merus by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 343,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,467,000 after purchasing an additional 12,510 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.