675,000 Shares in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Purchased by Novo Holdings A S

Novo Holdings A S bought a new position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 675,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,940,000. Merus accounts for about 2.0% of Novo Holdings A S’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Novo Holdings A S owned approximately 1.15% of Merus at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,377,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Merus by 813.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,682,000 after acquiring an additional 853,060 shares during the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Merus in the second quarter valued at $50,294,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 52.4% in the 2nd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,355,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,175,000 after purchasing an additional 466,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artal Group S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth $20,492,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MRUS. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.20.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS opened at $47.74 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.01. Merus has a 12 month low of $19.81 and a 12 month high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.23 and a beta of 1.12.

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