Granahan Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Granahan Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,562 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,689 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merus were worth $4,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Merus by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Merus by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 113,056 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,754,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merus by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merus by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merus by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,208 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.15.

Merus Trading Down 3.4 %

MRUS stock opened at $41.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of -10.46 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.10. Merus has a 12-month low of $33.19 and a 12-month high of $61.61.

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

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.