Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.70.

MRUS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Lifesci Capital raised Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRUS. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Merus in the first quarter valued at $72,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Merus by 750.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of Merus stock opened at $51.63 on Friday. Merus has a 52 week low of $22.01 and a 52 week high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -13.07 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.90.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. Research analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.88 EPS for the current year.

About Merus

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.