Alliancebernstein L.P. Buys 66,326 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 796,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 66,326 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Merus were worth $33,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 84,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,207,000 after acquiring an additional 12,212 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merus in the 3rd quarter worth $358,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merus by 73.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $144,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,573 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd increased its position in Merus by 10.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRUS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.31.

Merus Trading Down 8.7 %

Shares of MRUS stock opened at $38.11 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.72. Merus has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.65 and a beta of 1.02.

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