Holocene Advisors LP Purchases 64,122 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,637,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,122 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Merus were worth $81,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRUS. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in Merus during the third quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings 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 worth $118,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $237,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at $242,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRUS shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.45.

Merus Stock Up 4.8 %

Merus stock opened at $46.99 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.35 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a 12-month low of $22.27 and a 12-month high of $61.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.85.

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

Merus Company Profile

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.