Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $85.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MRUS. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim increased their target price on Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Merus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.91.

Merus Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.30. The company had a trading volume of 470,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,391. The company's 50-day moving average price is $50.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.16. Merus has a one year low of $21.51 and a one year high of $61.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 476.41% and a negative return on equity of 36.33%. The firm had revenue of $7.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merus in the third quarter worth $2,113,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the 3rd quarter worth about $103,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 5,336 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc bought a new stake in Merus in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,357,000. Finally, Novo Holdings A S boosted its stake in Merus by 3.7% in the third quarter. Novo Holdings A S now owns 700,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $34,972,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. 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.