Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,571 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,527,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Merus as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the first quarter worth about $72,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 750.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Merus during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the second quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the second quarter worth $242,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRUS shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Lifesci Capital raised Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merus currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $81.09.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRUS traded down $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $52.30. 377,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 705,471. Merus has a 52-week low of $19.81 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.88 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.84.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative return on equity of 36.33% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.64 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.