Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Trading Up 5.1% – Time to Buy?

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)’s stock price rose 5.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $44.48 and last traded at $44.40. Approximately 452,918 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 352,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRUS. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Merus presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.64.

Merus Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.17 and a 200 day moving average of $49.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. The firm had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 million. Equities analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the third quarter worth $103,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the third quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merus during the second quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.