Samlyn Capital LLC Raises Stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Samlyn Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,324,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 247,605 shares during the period. Merus makes up 2.3% of Samlyn Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Samlyn Capital LLC owned about 3.96% of Merus worth $137,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commodore Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 4,747,373 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $130,553,000 after acquiring an additional 319,301 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 6.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,398,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $141,937,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 2,373,625 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,275,000 after acquiring an additional 376,861 shares in the last quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 32.9% in the first quarter. Lynx1 Capital Management LP now owns 1,509,007 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,951,000 after acquiring an additional 373,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 52.4% in the second quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,355,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,175,000 after acquiring an additional 466,112 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merus

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $47.77 on Tuesday. Merus has a 12 month low of $19.81 and a 12 month high of $61.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.97. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 476.41% and a negative return on equity of 36.33%. The company had revenue of $7.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.27 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MRUS shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.20.

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.