Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.31.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Merus in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Merus by 4,583.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,234 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 56,012 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Merus by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 48,268 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after buying an additional 10,842 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Merus during the 4th quarter valued at $347,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Merus by 7.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,722,000 after buying an additional 150,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 83.0% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 723,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,171,000 after acquiring an additional 328,316 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS stock opened at $45.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.51 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.58. Merus has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. The business had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.