Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $65.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

MRUS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial began coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a buy rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merus from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Merus from $40.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $56.80.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $59.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -21.66 and a beta of 1.10. Merus has a 12-month low of $19.81 and a 12-month high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Merus by 47.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,084 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 3,916 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 93,354 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Merus by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 774,953 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,273,000 after purchasing an additional 180,397 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.