Insider Selling: Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) COO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Merus Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $59.17 on Friday. Merus has a 1-year low of $19.81 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.77.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. Merus had a negative net margin of 390.36% and a negative return on equity of 44.13%. The business had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.94 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merus will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lynx1 Capital Management LP boosted its position in Merus by 32.9% during the first quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP now owns 1,509,007 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,951,000 after purchasing an additional 373,782 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Merus during the first quarter worth $555,000. Artal Group S.A. bought a new position in Merus during the first quarter worth $20,492,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Merus by 2.9% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 33,745 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Merus by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 542,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,427,000 after purchasing an additional 11,536 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRUS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, May 24th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.90.

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.