Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.64.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (down from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group started 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $360,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,208 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Merus by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 723,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,171,000 after purchasing an additional 328,316 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Merus by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,722,000 after purchasing an additional 150,341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Stock Up 0.7 %

MRUS stock opened at $39.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.10. Merus has a 52-week low of $33.60 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of -10.06 and a beta of 1.10.

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

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.