Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Upgraded by Canaccord Genuity Group to “Strong-Buy”

Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

MRUS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merus from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim increased their price target on Merus from $57.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $80.90.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of Merus stock opened at $54.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.56 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.67. Merus has a one year low of $19.81 and a one year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.24. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. The company had revenue of $7.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.94 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Merus will post -3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Merus news, VP Harry Shuman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $317,340.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,335.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Merus news, VP Harry Shuman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $317,340.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,335.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Peter B. Silverman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,300 shares of company stock worth $1,392,792. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRUS. Great Point Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the 4th quarter valued at $550,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Merus by 63.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after acquiring an additional 40,060 shares in the last quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $669,000. Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 138.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 40,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 23,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,320,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.