Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,260,000 shares, a decline of 15.5% from the December 15th total of 9,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 539,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,260,000 after buying an additional 1,224,573 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 2,749,401 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $162,682,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its stake in Merus by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 2,324,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,523,000 after buying an additional 247,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Merus by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,722,000 after buying an additional 150,341 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merus Price Performance

NASDAQ MRUS traded up $0.31 on Thursday, hitting $39.65. 698,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,818. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of -10.04 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.13 and its 200 day moving average is $49.35. Merus has a 52 week low of $31.27 and a 52 week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The firm had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 million. Analysts predict that Merus will post -3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRUS shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.64.

About Merus

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.