Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) COO Peter B. Silverman Sells 10,000 Shares

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) 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 value of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Merus Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Merus stock traded down $1.03 on Friday, reaching $59.17. 1,163,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 796,041. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of -21.73 and a beta of 1.10. Merus has a 1-year low of $19.81 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.52.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRUS shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Merus from $54.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the first quarter valued at about $53,377,000. RTW Investments LP increased its position in Merus by 90.0% during the 3rd 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. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Merus by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,637,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,026,000 after purchasing an additional 751,609 shares during the last quarter. Artal Group S.A. purchased a new position in Merus in the 1st quarter valued at about $20,492,000. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 888,888 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,444,000 after purchasing an additional 444,444 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.