Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Sold by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,995 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Merus were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Merus by 750.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in Merus in the third quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the third quarter worth about $206,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRUS. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (down from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.64.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS opened at $41.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.42. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.54 and a beta of 1.10. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $34.76 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. As a group, analysts expect that Merus will post -3.89 EPS 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.