HighVista Strategies LLC Boosts Position in Merus N.V. $MRUS

HighVista Strategies LLC grew its stake in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 63.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,723 shares during the quarter. Merus makes up approximately 1.7% of HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in Merus were worth $4,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Merus by 324.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,935 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Merus by 30.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merus by 9.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 5.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 828,217 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,860,000 after purchasing an additional 41,852 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRUS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $97.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup lowered shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merus news, VP Harry Shuman sold 8,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.92, for a total transaction of $796,136.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,002 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,311.84. This trade represents a 43.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merus Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MRUS opened at $96.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.26 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.31 and its 200-day moving average is $73.89. Merus N.V. has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $96.83.

About Merus

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.