Short Interest in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Declines By 33.0%

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,900,000 shares, a decline of 33.0% from the September 15th total of 4,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Merus by 2,153.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Merus by 299.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merus by 10,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in Merus by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Merus by 955.3% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Stock Up 0.2%

MRUS opened at $94.60 on Wednesday. Merus has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $95.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.31. The stock has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.20 and a beta of 1.26.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.17) by ($1.06). The firm had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MRUS shares. Lifesci Capital reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. HC Wainwright cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merus has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.12.

Merus Company 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.