Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Price Target Lowered to $83.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) had its target price reduced by Needham & Company LLC from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

MRUS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $85.77.

Merus Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.64. 1,056,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,697. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.11. Merus has a fifty-two week low of $37.77 and a fifty-two week high of $61.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.70.

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Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $9.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. As a group, analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRUS. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Merus by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,899,521 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $290,125,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merus by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,497,653 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $147,076,000 after buying an additional 610,139 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 7.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $117,722,000 after buying an additional 150,341 shares in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merus by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $89,356,000 after acquiring an additional 770,000 shares during the period. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter valued at about $79,895,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.