Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $85.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.91.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.30. 470,895 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 696,391. Merus has a 52-week low of $21.51 and a 52-week high of $61.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.23 and a beta of 1.11.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.64 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter worth about $72,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 750.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter worth about $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by 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.