Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $66.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 57.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MRUS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Merus from $40.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Merus from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a 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 $53.64.

Merus Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of MRUS opened at $41.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.49. Merus has a 1 year low of $18.21 and a 1 year high of $52.03.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $8.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.61% and a negative net margin of 352.56%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merus will post -3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merus by 37.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Merus by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 26,440 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Merus by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al raised its position in shares of Merus by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 23,638 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Merus by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 3,530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.