Merus' (MRUS) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Key Points

• Guggenheim has reiterated its neutral rating on Merus (MRUS) with a price target of $97.00, reduced from a previous target of $109.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.65% from the current stock price.
• Several brokerages have downgraded Merus, with Needham cutting its rating from "buy" to "hold" and setting a target price of $96.00, while Truist Financial maintained a similar price target but also changed its rating to "hold."
• Merus reported disappointing earnings, with an EPS of ($2.23) that missed analyst estimates, and a revenue of $8.83 million, falling short of expectations of $9.77 million.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $97.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their previous price target of $109.00. Guggenheim's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 3.65% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $96.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. Truist Financial cut shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $67.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners began coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.88.

Merus Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Merus stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,956,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,044,161. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of -17.03 and a beta of 1.19. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $94.56.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.17) by ($1.06). The business had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. On average, analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,792,500. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 99.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 18.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 36.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 46.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 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.

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