Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,593,375 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 413,425 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Merus were worth $67,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Merus by 17.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 84,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,207,000 after purchasing an additional 12,212 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $358,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Merus by 73.6% in the 3rd 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. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Merus in the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd boosted its stake in Merus by 10.4% during the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merus Stock Down 8.7 %

MRUS opened at $38.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of -9.65 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.72. Merus has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The firm had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRUS shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.31.

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.