Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given “Buy” Rating at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reissued their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $109.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MRUS. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.31.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRUS opened at $46.39 on Tuesday. Merus has a one year low of $37.77 and a one year high of $61.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.74 and a beta of 1.15.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Merus by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,899,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,125,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merus by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,497,653 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $147,076,000 after acquiring an additional 610,139 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Merus by 7.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,722,000 after acquiring an additional 150,341 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,356,000 after acquiring an additional 770,000 shares during the period. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $79,895,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by 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.