Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 318,828 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the previous session’s volume of 557,783 shares.The stock last traded at $39.87 and had previously closed at $43.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRUS shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.64.

Merus Stock Down 8.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.19 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.77.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 10.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merus by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,573 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C grew its holdings in Merus by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 2,749,401 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $162,682,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 2,324,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,523,000 after acquiring an additional 247,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Merus by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,722,000 after acquiring an additional 150,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.