Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $59.17, but opened at $52.79. Merus shares last traded at $55.92, with a volume of 303,368 shares traded.

Specifically, VP Harry Shuman sold 6,000 shares of Merus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total value of $317,340.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,335.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Merus news, VP Harry Shuman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total value of $317,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,335.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,300 shares of company stock worth $1,392,792 in the last 90 days. 4.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRUS. StockNews.com cut shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 22nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.90.

Merus Stock Down 5.4 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $50.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.04.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.24. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. The company had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Equities analysts predict that Merus will post -3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Great Point Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $550,000. RTW Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Merus by 90.0% during the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 1,996,764 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,084,000 after purchasing an additional 945,871 shares in the last quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter valued at $669,000. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Merus by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 40,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 23,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $1,320,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.