Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) is Lynx1 Capital Management LP’s Largest Position

Lynx1 Capital Management LP cut its position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,580,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 213,025 shares during the quarter. Merus comprises about 24.9% of Lynx1 Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Lynx1 Capital Management LP owned about 2.31% of Merus worth $66,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Merus by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,722,000 after acquiring an additional 150,341 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Merus by 83.0% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 723,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,171,000 after purchasing an additional 328,316 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merus by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,208 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $360,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRUS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.31.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $43.57 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.03 and a beta of 1.02. Merus has a one year low of $33.19 and a one year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. The business had revenue of $9.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 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.