Analysts Set Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Target Price at $80.90

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.90.

MRUS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Merus from $54.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd.

Insider Activity at Merus

In related news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Merus news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Harry Shuman sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.84, for a total value of $422,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,995.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,300 shares of company stock worth $1,392,792. 4.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the first quarter worth about $72,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 828 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the first quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Merus by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of MRUS stock opened at $55.82 on Friday. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $19.81 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.15 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.24. The business had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. As a group, research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.05 EPS for the current year.

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.