Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $85.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 95.45% from the company’s current price.

MRUS has been the topic of several other reports. Lifesci Capital upgraded Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.70.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS opened at $43.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.01 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a 1-year low of $22.26 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.92.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $11.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. Research analysts expect that Merus will post -3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 750.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $108,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merus by 24.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merus during the second quarter valued at about $237,000. 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.