Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives $85.64 Average PT from Analysts

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.64.

MRUS has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Merus by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,517 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Merus by 4,583.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,234 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 56,012 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the 4th quarter valued at $360,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Merus by 2.2% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Stock Performance

Merus stock opened at $40.70 on Wednesday. Merus has a 52 week low of $33.83 and a 52 week high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.30 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.70 and a 200-day moving average of $48.47.

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 business 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share 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.