Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 90.43% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MRUS. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merus presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.45.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of Merus stock opened at $44.64 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $50.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $22.26 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The business had revenue of $11.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. On average, analysts expect that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Merus by 750.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in Merus during the third quarter worth about $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the first quarter worth about $108,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merus by 24.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the third quarter worth about $206,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.