Needham & Company LLC Lowers Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Price Target to $83.00

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 76.26% from the company’s previous close.

MRUS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Merus in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Merus in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.77.

Merus Trading Up 1.9 %

MRUS opened at $47.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.92 and a beta of 1.11. Merus has a 1 year low of $37.77 and a 1 year high of $61.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.80.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Merus by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,899,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,125,000 after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Merus by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,497,653 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,076,000 after acquiring an additional 610,139 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merus by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,722,000 after purchasing an additional 150,341 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merus by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $89,356,000 after purchasing an additional 770,000 shares during the period. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,895,000. 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.