StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

MRUS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merus from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Merus from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Merus from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merus presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $38.00.

Merus Stock Performance

Merus stock opened at $20.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $17.27 and its 200-day moving average is $18.06. Merus has a 1 year low of $12.03 and a 1 year high of $30.81.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.84) by ($0.97). Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.86% and a negative net margin of 315.48%. The business had revenue of $10.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.34 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merus will post -4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commodore Capital LP increased its stake in Merus by 44.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 2,615,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,221,000 after buying an additional 799,341 shares during the period. Pura Vida Investments LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,717,000. Tekla Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merus by 77.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tekla Capital Management LLC now owns 169,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after buying an additional 73,917 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Merus by 71.1% during the 2nd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 465,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,532,000 after buying an additional 193,287 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Merus by 224.9% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 395,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after buying an additional 273,609 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.34% of the company’s stock.

About Merus

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Merus NV is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, which engages in the discovery and development of bispecific antibody therapeutics. Its pipeline includes Biclonics for solid and hematological tumors. The company was founded by Ton Logtenberg and Hennie Hoogenboom on June 16, 2003 and is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands.