Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.20.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $53,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $53,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 available through the SEC website. Also, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was 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. Insiders sold a total of 24,300 shares of company stock valued at $1,392,792 over the last three months. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRUS. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Merus by 64.1% in 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the first quarter valued at $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the first quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Merus by 352.3% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 5,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Stock Performance

MRUS stock opened at $49.93 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.83. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $19.81 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.03 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative return on equity of 45.76% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 million. Equities analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.