Traders Buy Large Volume of Merus Put Options (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 4,020 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 739% compared to the typical volume of 479 put options.

Merus Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $59.99 on Friday. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $19.81 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -21.66 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.04.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. On average, research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,377,000. RTW Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 90.0% during the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 1,996,764 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,084,000 after acquiring an additional 945,871 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 3,876,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,418,000 after acquiring an additional 845,000 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,637,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,026,000 after acquiring an additional 751,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artal Group S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $20,492,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRUS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.80.

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.