Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $73.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.45.

Merus Price Performance

Merus stock opened at $45.49 on Thursday. Merus has a 12 month low of $22.26 and a 12 month high of $61.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.79. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the first quarter worth $108,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 24.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the third quarter worth $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.