UBS Group Initiates Coverage on Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $72.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Merus from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Merus from $70.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Merus from $93.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.09.

Merus Stock Up 1.5 %

MRUS opened at $53.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.17 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.02. Merus has a 52 week low of $19.81 and a 52 week high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $7.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 million. Merus had a negative return on equity of 36.33% and a negative net margin of 476.41%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merus will post -3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus in the first quarter valued at about $72,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Merus by 63.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 40,060 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Merus by 160.7% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus in the first quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 1.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 74,054 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently 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.