Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) shares reached a new 52-week high at $95.04 during mid-day trading, reflecting strong investor interest with a trading volume of 2,854,732 shares.
• Analyst ratings show a mixed sentiment, with multiple firms downgrading Merus from "buy" to "hold" or "neutral," while the consensus rating remains as a "Hold" with an average target price of $93.12.
• The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, negative earnings per share of ($2.23), and reported revenue of $8.83 million for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates.

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $95.04 and last traded at $94.89, with a volume of 2854732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRUS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial cut Merus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup cut Merus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. HC Wainwright cut shares of Merus from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merus from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Four research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.12.

Merus Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.05.

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

Institutional Trading of Merus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merus by 26.3% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 78,280 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,295,000 after purchasing an additional 16,280 shares in the last quarter. Atle Fund Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 69.7% in the second quarter. Atle Fund Management AB now owns 59,889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,150,000 after acquiring an additional 24,597 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 15.7% in the second 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 period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 324.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,935 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 30.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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