Guggenheim Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $109.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 144.34% from the company’s previous close.

MRUS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.31.

Merus Trading Down 0.5 %

Merus stock opened at $44.61 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.29 and a beta of 1.15. Merus has a 12-month low of $37.77 and a 12-month high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 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 forecast that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 17.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 84,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,207,000 after purchasing an additional 12,212 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth $358,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,573 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 4,583.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,234 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 56,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 48,268 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 10,842 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.