Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Price Target Lowered to $96.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has lowered its price target for Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) from $97.00 to $96.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 42.33% from the current stock price.
• Merus reported a loss of ($2.23) earnings per share for the last quarter, which missed analysts' consensus estimates, alongside revenue of $8.83 million, falling short of expectations.
• As of now, Merus has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with one sell rating and eleven buy ratings, indicating a generally positive outlook among research analysts.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) had its target price cut by Needham & Company LLC from $97.00 to $96.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merus from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Merus and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Merus Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MRUS stock traded up $0.61 on Wednesday, reaching $64.00. The stock had a trading volume of 557,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,490. The firm's 50-day moving average is $58.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.64 and a beta of 1.09. Merus has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $67.59.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 82,500 shares of company stock worth $4,586,340 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,899,521 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $290,125,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merus by 34.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $198,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,519 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP grew its holdings in Merus by 99.4% in the first quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,369,699 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $141,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,777 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merus by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $89,356,000 after purchasing an additional 770,000 shares during the period. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the fourth quarter worth $79,895,000. 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.