Merus’ (MRUS) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MRUS. UBS Group assumed coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price (down from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.27.

Merus Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of MRUS opened at $43.74 on Monday. Merus has a 52-week low of $22.27 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of -11.07 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.60 and a 200 day moving average of $51.91.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merus by 750.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merus by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the third quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the second quarter worth $237,000. 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.