Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Earns Sell (D-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has been reissued a Sell (D-) rating by Weiss Ratings, reflecting ongoing concerns about the company's stock performance.
• Guggenheim has revised its target price for Merus down to $97.00, while other analysts including Truist Financial and UBS Group have also downgraded their ratings to Hold.
• The company reported a negative EPS of ($2.23) for the last quarter, missing consensus estimates, as well as a revenue of $8.83 million, below analyst expectations.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reissued by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group lowered shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $97.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $90.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merus currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.12.

Merus Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ MRUS opened at $94.38 on Wednesday. Merus has a 52 week low of $33.19 and a 52 week high of $94.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.16 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.01.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $8.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.77 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 685.64% and a negative return on equity of 50.28%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 2,153.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 299.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its position in shares of Merus by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,753 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Merus by 955.3% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Merus by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,674 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.