Merus’ (MRUS) Buy Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Guggenheim in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $109.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price points to a potential upside of 144.26% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MRUS. Citigroup upped their price target on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Merus from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.31.

Merus Trading Down 0.5 %

MRUS traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $44.63. 138,320 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 679,268. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $37.77 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. The firm had revenue of $9.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRUS. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Merus during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Merus by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. 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.