Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Short Interest Update

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,260,000 shares, a drop of 15.5% from the December 15th total of 9,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 539,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MRUS shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, December 9th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group began coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.64.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.45. 638,973 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 439,536. Merus has a twelve month low of $31.27 and a twelve month high of $61.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.22. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.99 and a beta of 1.10.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The firm had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merus by 73.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,573 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Merus by 813.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,682,000 after acquiring an additional 853,060 shares in the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,294,000. Novo Holdings A S bought a new position in Merus during the second quarter worth $39,940,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 10.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.