Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 271,966 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,984,538 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 271,966 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.90% of Merus worth $83,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merus by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $144,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,573 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted 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 valued at $36,171,000 after purchasing an additional 328,316 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in Merus during the 4th quarter valued at $7,569,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Merus by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 796,957 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,512,000 after buying an additional 66,326 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 331,195 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $13,927,000 after buying an additional 58,760 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, March 28th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.31.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of Merus stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 202,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 704,677. Merus has a one year low of $35.01 and a one year high of $61.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.60 and a beta of 1.02. The business's fifty day moving average price is $43.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.62.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.57 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 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.