Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys Shares of 608,457 Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 608,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,399,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Merus by 750.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merus by 24.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merus in the second quarter worth $237,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of MRUS opened at $45.49 on Monday. Merus has a 1 year low of $22.26 and a 1 year high of $61.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.81.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The business had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Lifesci Capital raised Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.45.

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.