Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives Neutral Rating from Guggenheim

Guggenheim reissued their neutral rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $97.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $109.00.

MRUS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday. 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 note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.88.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of Merus stock opened at $94.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.12 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.12. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $94.56.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $8.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,500 shares of company stock worth $2,792,500. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Merus by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 13,785 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB increased its position in Merus by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 3,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Merus by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 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.