Holocene Advisors LP Has $81.83 Million Stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,637,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,122 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP owned approximately 2.39% of Merus worth $81,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at $675,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 26.4% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,009 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,714,000 after acquiring an additional 323,518 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Merus by 90.6% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 521,339 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,848,000 after purchasing an additional 247,813 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in Merus in the third quarter valued at about $103,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Merus in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,870,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MRUS. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. 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. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.45.

Merus Trading Up 4.8 %

MRUS opened at $46.99 on Monday. Merus has a 1-year low of $22.27 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.91 and a 200-day moving average of $51.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.35 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. Equities analysts predict that Merus will post -3.89 EPS for the current year.

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.