Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 31,354 Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 31,354 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,318,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Merus by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merus in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth $146,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Merus in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.15.

Merus Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of Merus stock opened at $41.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -10.52 and a beta of 0.94. Merus has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $61.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.76.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $26.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. Analysts expect 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.