Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Rating Lowered to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $97.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $95.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.03% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday. Barclays initiated coverage on Merus in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $67.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.88.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $94.15 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.12. Merus has a 52 week low of $33.19 and a 52 week high of $94.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 48,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,792,500 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 2,153.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 631 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 299.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in Merus by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Merus by 955.3% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Merus by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,674 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.