Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.20.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRUS. Truist Financial raised their price target on Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th.

Merus Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of MRUS opened at $49.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.96. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.84 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a 52-week low of $19.81 and a 52-week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative return on equity of 36.33% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. The company had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Great Point Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $550,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after buying an additional 40,060 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Merus by 138.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 40,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 23,503 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter worth $1,320,000. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merus by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 888,888 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,444,000 after purchasing an additional 444,444 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.