Merus’ (MRUS) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $85.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 89.56% from the stock’s previous close.

MRUS has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.45.

Merus Stock Performance

MRUS opened at $44.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of -11.35 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a one year low of $22.27 and a one year high of $61.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.85.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Merus by 73.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $144,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,573 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Merus by 813.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,682,000 after acquiring an additional 853,060 shares during the period. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new stake in Merus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,294,000. Novo Holdings A S purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,940,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 10.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.