Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $89.00 to $97.00. The stock had previously closed at $41.60, but opened at $50.20. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Merus shares last traded at $53.82, with a volume of 2,516,414 shares changing hands.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MRUS. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, December 9th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $109.00 price objective (down from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $86.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,895,000. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,679,777 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,220,519 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merus by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $89,356,000 after acquiring an additional 770,000 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of Merus by 51.2% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,501,220 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,186,000 after acquiring an additional 508,063 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Merus Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $42.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.66 and a beta of 0.94.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. The business had revenue of $26.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 million. As a group, analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.