UBS Group Begins Coverage on Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $72.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

MRUS has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.09.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRUS opened at $53.06 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.17 and a beta of 1.11. Merus has a 52-week low of $19.81 and a 52-week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative return on equity of 36.33% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. The business had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. Analysts predict that Merus will post -3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Merus in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 750.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the first quarter valued at about $108,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter worth about $237,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.