HighTower Advisors LLC Invests $358,000 in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Merus by 30.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,633 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 9,488 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merus during the second quarter valued at about $616,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Merus by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,847 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,763,000. Finally, First Turn Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,047,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (down from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. 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. According to MarketBeat, Merus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.64.

Merus Trading Down 0.6 %

MRUS opened at $41.85 on Monday. Merus has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -10.59 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.13.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The company had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. On average, research analysts predict that Merus will post -3.89 EPS 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.