Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $85.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MRUS. Guggenheim upped their price target on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.45.

Merus Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MRUS opened at $45.49 on Wednesday. Merus has a 1-year low of $22.26 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $11.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRUS. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merus by 750.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the 3rd quarter worth $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter worth $108,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 24.7% in 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 stake in Merus during the second quarter valued at $237,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.