Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given “Buy” Rating at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $67.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Merus from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $80.90.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $54.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of -19.61 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a 12 month low of $19.81 and a 12 month high of $61.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.46.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results 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 390.36% and a negative return on equity of 44.13%. The firm had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 7,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.84, for a total value of $422,232.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,995.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,300 shares of company stock valued at $1,392,792. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Great Point Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the fourth quarter valued at $550,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Merus by 63.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after acquiring an additional 40,060 shares in the last quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB acquired a new stake in Merus in the fourth quarter valued at $669,000. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Merus by 138.4% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 40,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 23,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the fourth quarter valued at $1,320,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.