Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock Price Up 5.2%

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) shares shot up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $56.23 and last traded at $56.11. 308,676 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 798,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRUS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, June 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.90.

Merus Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of -20.15 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. The business had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.94 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merus will post -3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $53,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,646.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $53,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,646.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,300 shares of company stock valued at $1,392,792. Insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Merus by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Merus by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Merus in the 1st quarter worth about $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Merus in the 1st quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Merus by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.