Merus NV (NASDAQ:MRUS) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 324,000 shares, a drop of 8.9% from the May 30th total of 355,700 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 27,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 12.0 days.
Shares of MRUS traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $15.75. The stock had a trading volume of 100 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,038. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.60. The firm has a market cap of $354.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.70 and a beta of 0.22. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $11.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.99.
Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.22. Merus had a negative net margin of 75.71% and a negative return on equity of 39.46%. The company had revenue of $8.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.47 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Merus will post -1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Merus by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 11,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merus by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,987 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the first quarter worth approximately $468,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Merus by 74.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 30,538 shares during the last quarter. 52.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
MRUS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Anadarko Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Covey from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada set a €5.70 ($6.63) price objective on shares of Banco Santander and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Weyco Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 13th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Merus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.57.
Merus Company Profile
Merus N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, engages in developing bispecific antibody therapeutics. Its bispecific antibody candidate pipeline includes MCLA-128, which is in a Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer; and Phase I/II study for treating gastric, ovarian, endometrial, and non-small cell lung cancers.
