Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives Buy Rating from Canaccord Genuity Group

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $67.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.90.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of MRUS opened at $54.70 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.41. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.75 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a one year low of $19.81 and a one year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. The company had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 390.36% and a negative return on equity of 44.13%. On average, analysts expect that Merus will post -3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merus

In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of Merus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total value of $53,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,646.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.22, for a total transaction of $53,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,646.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,300 shares of company stock worth $1,392,792. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merus by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Merus by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Merus in the first quarter worth $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Merus in the first quarter worth $108,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merus by 352.3% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 5,204 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.