HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $85.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price indicates a potential upside of 89.56% from the company’s current price.

MRUS has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.45.

Merus Stock Down 0.3 %

Merus stock opened at $44.84 on Monday. Merus has a 52 week low of $22.27 and a 52 week high of $61.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.35 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. Research analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Merus by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merus by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $144,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,573 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its holdings in Merus by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 2,749,401 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $162,682,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Merus by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,398,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $141,937,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 11.9% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 2,324,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,523,000 after purchasing an additional 247,605 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.