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

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $109.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $111.00. Guggenheim’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 128.22% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday. One research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.27.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 142,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 681,064. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.88. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $22.27 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.09 and a beta of 1.07.

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). The company had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 750.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $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.