Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,009,403 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 725,844 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 3.47% of Merus worth $55,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commodore Capital LP increased its position in Merus by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 4,747,373 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $130,553,000 after purchasing an additional 319,301 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its position in shares of Merus by 27.9% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 3,876,938 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $91,418,000 after buying an additional 845,000 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Merus by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,637,309 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $100,026,000 after buying an additional 751,609 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP increased its position in shares of Merus by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 2,373,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $65,275,000 after buying an additional 376,861 shares during the period. Finally, Braidwell LP increased its position in shares of Merus by 23.2% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,901,337 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $44,834,000 after buying an additional 358,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Merus Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ MRUS traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.84. 616,080 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,550,991. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.80 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $48.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.83. Merus has a 1 year low of $19.81 and a 1 year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 390.36% and a negative return on equity of 44.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $53,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares in the company, valued at $372,646.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,300 shares of company stock worth $792,792. 4.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Merus from $54.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.60.

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.