Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $85.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

MRUS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock 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 research note on Thursday, July 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.91.

Merus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $50.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 470,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,391. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of -17.23 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.22. Merus has a 1-year low of $21.51 and a 1-year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $7.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 36.33% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,377,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Merus by 813.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,682,000 after acquiring an additional 853,060 shares during the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,294,000. Novo Holdings A S acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the second quarter worth $39,940,000. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merus by 52.4% during the second quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,355,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,175,000 after buying an additional 466,112 shares during the last quarter. 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.