Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Receives $80.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.20.

A number of research analysts recently commented on MRUS shares. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Merus from $90.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Merus from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th.

Merus Stock Down 0.3 %

MRUS opened at $47.50 on Thursday. Merus has a 12-month low of $19.81 and a 12-month high of $61.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.60 and a 200-day moving average of $49.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.15 and a beta of 1.12.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. As a group, analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Merus during the second quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Novo Holdings A S bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the 2nd quarter worth $39,940,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merus in the second quarter valued at about $17,751,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in Merus by 36.4% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 133,323 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,889,000 after acquiring an additional 35,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Merus by 26.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,009 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $91,714,000 after acquiring an additional 323,518 shares during the last quarter. 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.