Affinity Asset Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 125,000 Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 125,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,396,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merus by 205.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 62,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 42,219 shares during the last quarter. Great Point Partners LLC raised its stake in Merus by 134.4% during the second quarter. Great Point Partners LLC now owns 523,288 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,963,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Merus by 813.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,682,000 after buying an additional 853,060 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merus by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 2,324,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,523,000 after acquiring an additional 247,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Logos Global Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,294,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merus

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRUS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.20.

Merus Stock Performance

MRUS opened at $47.65 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.98. Merus has a twelve month low of $19.81 and a twelve month high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $7.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. On average, research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.