Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Cut to Hold at Guggenheim

Guggenheim downgraded shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday. Lifesci Capital restated a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair cut shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merus from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merus has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.88.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $94.15 on Monday. Merus has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $94.56. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.38.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.17) by ($1.06). Merus had a negative net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. The business had revenue of $8.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 million. Research analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,792,500. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sender Co & Partners Inc. bought a new position in Merus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $684,000. Sofinnova Investments Inc. bought a new position in Merus in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,280,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Merus in the 2nd quarter worth about $627,000. Octagon Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in Merus by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Octagon Capital Advisors LP now owns 389,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,461,000 after acquiring an additional 81,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merus by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 708,176 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,250,000 after acquiring an additional 17,691 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.