XTX Topco Ltd Purchases 3,931 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 54.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Merus were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Merus by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter worth approximately $108,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 160.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MRUS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merus currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.20.

Merus Trading Down 3.8 %

Merus stock opened at $47.77 on Tuesday. Merus has a 1-year low of $19.81 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.97.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

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.