Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Lowers Position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC cut its stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,995 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Merus were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Merus by 10.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merus by 73.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $144,260,000 after buying an additional 1,224,573 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Merus by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,722,000 after acquiring an additional 150,341 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Merus by 4.1% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,637,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,834,000 after purchasing an additional 64,122 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Merus by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 723,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,171,000 after acquiring an additional 328,316 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of MRUS stock opened at $41.65 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.42. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -10.54 and a beta of 1.10. Merus has a 52 week low of $34.76 and a 52 week high of $61.61.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.64.

Merus 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.