Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Position Raised by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Merus were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Merus by 51.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,501,220 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,186,000 after purchasing an additional 508,063 shares in the last quarter. BIT Capital GmbH raised its holdings in Merus by 38.4% during the first quarter. BIT Capital GmbH now owns 29,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 8,210 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merus by 30.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 324.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,935 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 2.7% in the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 13,785 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRUS opened at $66.94 on Friday. Merus N.V. has a twelve month low of $33.19 and a twelve month high of $67.59. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.17 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.34.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($1.06). Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.28% and a negative net margin of 685.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Merus N.V. will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.76, for a total transaction of $1,793,840.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,500 shares of company stock worth $4,586,340. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Merus from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. HC Wainwright raised Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 price target on Merus and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

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.