MML Investors Services LLC Invests $206,000 in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,122 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 750.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in Merus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Merus by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $237,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $43.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 1.07. Merus has a 1 year low of $27.11 and a 1 year high of $61.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.42 and a 200-day moving average of $50.92.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MRUS shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.64.

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.