Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $73.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRUS shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merus from $80.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Merus from $54.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $55.77 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.99. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $19.81 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.13 and a beta of 1.10.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.24. Merus had a negative net margin of 390.36% and a negative return on equity of 44.13%. The business had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.94 million. Research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Harry Shuman sold 7,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.84, for a total value of $422,232.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,002 shares in the company, valued at $404,995.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,300 shares of company stock worth $792,792. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 43.7% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 93,354 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 28,400 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Merus by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 774,953 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,273,000 after buying an additional 180,397 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Merus by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,885,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,045,000 after buying an additional 247,000 shares during the last quarter. Monashee Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,061,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter worth about $401,000. 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.