Merus' (MRUS) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. HC Wainwright's target price would suggest a potential upside of 44.06% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MRUS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Merus from $40.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.33.

Merus Trading Down 4.2 %

MRUS stock traded down $1.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.12. The stock had a trading volume of 560,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,555. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.84 and a beta of 1.10. Merus has a 52 week low of $19.81 and a 52 week high of $52.03.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.24. Merus had a negative net margin of 352.56% and a negative return on equity of 50.61%. The business had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.94 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merus will post -3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. RTW Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Merus by 90.0% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 1,996,764 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $47,084,000 after acquiring an additional 945,871 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 27.9% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 3,876,938 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $91,418,000 after purchasing an additional 845,000 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merus by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,637,309 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $100,026,000 after buying an additional 751,609 shares in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 888,888 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,444,000 after acquiring an additional 444,444 shares during the period. Finally, Rock Springs Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rock Springs Capital Management LP now owns 838,428 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $19,770,000 after buying an additional 359,897 shares during the last quarter. 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.