Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Purchased by Samlyn Capital LLC

Samlyn Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,324,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 247,605 shares during the period. Merus comprises 2.3% of Samlyn Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Samlyn Capital LLC’s holdings in Merus were worth $137,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Merus by 37.7% in the fourth 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the first quarter valued at $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the first quarter valued at $108,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the second quarter worth $237,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merus Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of MRUS opened at $47.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a 52-week low of $19.81 and a 52-week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 476.41% and a negative return on equity of 36.33%. The company had revenue of $7.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.20.

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.