Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.33.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRUS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Merus from $40.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Merus Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.45. 705,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,373. Merus has a one year low of $18.21 and a one year high of $52.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.26 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.26.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by ($0.38). Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.61% and a negative net margin of 352.56%. The firm had revenue of $8.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.43 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merus during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 142.1% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,477 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the first quarter worth about $72,000. 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.