Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives $93.12 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.1176.

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRUS shares. UBS Group cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Alliance Global Partners started coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (down from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, September 29th.

Merus Stock Performance

MRUS stock opened at $94.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.47. Merus has a 52 week low of $33.19 and a 52 week high of $95.06.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($1.06). The company had revenue of $8.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.28% and a negative net margin of 685.64%. Sell-side analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $198,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,519 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP lifted its position in Merus by 99.4% during the 1st quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,369,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $141,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,777 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in Merus by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,225,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,048,000 after purchasing an additional 351,616 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in Merus by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,042,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,430,000 after purchasing an additional 541,168 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Merus by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,528,587 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,404,000 after purchasing an additional 483,962 shares during the period. 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.