Federated Hermes Inc. Has $80.40 Million Stock Position in Merus N.V. $MRUS

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) by 46.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,528,587 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 483,962 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Merus were worth $80,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 15.7% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,674 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Merus by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 26,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Merus by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 78,280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,295,000 after buying an additional 16,280 shares during the period. Atle Fund Management AB grew its holdings in Merus by 69.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atle Fund Management AB now owns 59,889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,150,000 after acquiring an additional 24,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Merus by 324.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,935 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRUS shares. Alliance Global Partners assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup downgraded Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.56.

Merus Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MRUS opened at $96.14 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.06. Merus N.V. has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $96.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.14 and a beta of 1.06.

Insider Activity at Merus

In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 8,300 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president owned 11,002 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,311.84. This represents a 43.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.