Lazard Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,007 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Merus by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth $146,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Merus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRUS shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Merus Stock Up 32.5%

MRUS opened at $55.14 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.41. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $61.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of -13.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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.