Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Down 7.6% – Time to Sell?

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) shares fell 7.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $39.00 and last traded at $41.20. 332,799 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 686,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRUS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.31.

Merus Trading Down 5.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.59 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.03.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Merus by 10.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Merus by 13.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 194,554 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,720,000 after purchasing an additional 23,710 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Merus by 49.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,232 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 4,385 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 12,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Merus by 16.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 42,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 6,071 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.