Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on MRUS. Guggenheim upped their price target on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.45.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of MRUS stock opened at $48.53 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.88. Merus has a 52-week low of $22.27 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of -12.29 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merus by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,260,000 after buying an additional 1,224,573 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Merus by 813.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,682,000 after acquiring an additional 853,060 shares during the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP bought a new stake in Merus during the second quarter worth about $50,294,000. Novo Holdings A S acquired a new position in Merus during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,940,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Merus by 10.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.