Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.64.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price (down from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position 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 worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth about $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Merus by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $242,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merus Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $43.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -10.93 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.29. Merus has a 1-year low of $27.72 and a 1-year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $11.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.