Merus’ (MRUS) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target points to a potential upside of 47.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Merus in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.80.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS opened at $44.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.91 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.04. Merus has a 1-year low of $19.81 and a 1-year high of $52.03.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.24. The business had revenue of $7.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.94 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 44.13% and a negative net margin of 390.36%. Research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter worth $53,377,000. RTW Investments LP raised its position in shares of Merus by 90.0% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 1,996,764 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,084,000 after buying an additional 945,871 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its position in Merus by 27.9% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 3,876,938 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $91,418,000 after purchasing an additional 845,000 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Merus by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,637,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,026,000 after purchasing an additional 751,609 shares during the period. Finally, Artal Group S.A. purchased a new position in Merus in the first quarter valued at about $20,492,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.