Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $109.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 144.26% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MRUS. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.31.

Merus Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ MRUS traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.63. 138,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 679,268. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.12. Merus has a 52-week low of $37.77 and a 52-week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Merus by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,899,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,125,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merus by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,497,653 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,076,000 after buying an additional 610,139 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merus by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,722,000 after buying an additional 150,341 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,356,000 after buying an additional 770,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,895,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.