Guggenheim Increases Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Price Target to $111.00

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $93.00 to $111.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target suggests a potential upside of 119.54% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merus presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

Merus Price Performance

Merus stock opened at $50.56 on Tuesday. Merus has a one year low of $19.81 and a one year high of $61.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.25 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 476.41% and a negative return on equity of 36.33%. The company had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the first quarter valued at approximately $53,377,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Merus by 813.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,682,000 after buying an additional 853,060 shares in the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP bought a new stake in Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,294,000. Novo Holdings A S bought a new stake in Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,940,000. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merus by 52.4% in the 2nd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,355,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,175,000 after buying an additional 466,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.