Merus’ (MRUS) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $83.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MRUS. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Merus in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.31.

Merus Stock Up 8.7 %

Shares of MRUS opened at $41.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.65 and a 200 day moving average of $45.25. Merus has a twelve month low of $33.19 and a twelve month high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 17.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 84,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,207,000 after purchasing an additional 12,212 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merus during the third quarter worth about $358,000. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Merus by 7.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,722,000 after buying an additional 150,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 83.0% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 723,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,171,000 after purchasing an additional 328,316 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Company Profile

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.