Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 862,089 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 260,014 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 1.26% of Merus worth $36,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Merus by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the third quarter valued at $206,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merus by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $347,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Merus Trading Up 3.7 %

Merus stock traded up $1.54 on Thursday, hitting $43.37. 591,022 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 720,360. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.98 and a beta of 1.02. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $43.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.90. Merus has a 1 year low of $33.19 and a 1 year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.48. The business 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merus currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $85.31.

Merus 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.