Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,422 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 975 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Merus worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 48,268 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after buying an additional 10,842 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 58,760 shares during the period. HealthInvest Partners AB increased its stake in Merus by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB now owns 62,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 11,834 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in Merus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,569,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Merus by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 price objective on Merus and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Merus Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $62.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.80 and a beta of 0.94. Merus has a 12-month low of $33.19 and a 12-month high of $62.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.68.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.