Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Gap Down to $51.77

Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $51.77, but opened at $50.66. Merus shares last traded at $50.48, with a volume of 3,679 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRUS. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.20.

Merus Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.41 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.65.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative return on equity of 45.76% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. The business had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of Merus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $53,220.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,646.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,300 shares of company stock worth $1,392,792 over the last quarter. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter worth $296,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Merus by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 62,825 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,728,000 after buying an additional 36,160 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the 4th quarter worth about $1,268,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Merus by 138.4% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 40,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 23,503 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by 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.