Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given Market Perform Rating at Lifesci Capital

Lifesci Capital reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Lifesci Capital currently has a $97.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

MRUS has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. UBS Group lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.88.

Merus Price Performance

Merus stock opened at $94.15 on Tuesday. Merus has a one year low of $33.19 and a one year high of $94.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.19.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.17) by ($1.06). Merus had a negative return on equity of 50.28% and a negative net margin of 685.64%.The company had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 48,500 shares of company stock worth $2,792,500 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Merus by 2,153.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 299.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 21.9% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 955.3% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the first quarter worth about $118,000. Hedge funds and other 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.