Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.64.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merus from $91.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Merus Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MRUS stock opened at $53.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.01 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.55. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.98.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.17) by ($0.23). Merus had a negative return on equity of 35.99% and a negative net margin of 506.73%. The company had revenue of $26.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Merus by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 48,268 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 10,842 shares in the last quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB boosted its position in Merus by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB now owns 62,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 11,834 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in Merus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,569,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Merus by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Merus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $347,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.