Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives $85.45 Average Target Price from Analysts

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.27.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $109.00 target price (down previously from $111.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS stock traded down $2.32 on Tuesday, hitting $46.21. 525,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 682,147. Merus has a twelve month low of $22.27 and a twelve month high of $61.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $49.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.70 and a beta of 1.07.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.05). Merus had a negative return on equity of 38.89% and a negative net margin of 680.61%. The company had revenue of $11.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. Equities research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRUS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $144,260,000 after buying an additional 1,224,573 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merus by 813.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,952 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,682,000 after buying an additional 853,060 shares during the period. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,294,000. Novo Holdings A S bought a new stake in Merus in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,940,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Merus by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,873,926 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $343,421,000 after purchasing an additional 648,994 shares during 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.