Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Upgraded at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MRUS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reissued an outperform rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $80.90.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $54.19 on Thursday. Merus has a 52-week low of $19.81 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.56 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.67.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. Analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Merus

In other news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $53,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,646.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $53,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,646.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,300 shares of company stock worth $1,392,792. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merus by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Merus during the first quarter valued at about $72,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Merus by 352.3% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 5,204 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.