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

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $85.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Lifesci Capital upgraded Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Merus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim upped 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.45.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of Merus stock opened at $45.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 1.12. Merus has a 1-year low of $22.26 and a 1-year high of $61.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.79.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last released its 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 company had revenue of $11.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.11 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.89 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd lifted its position in Merus by 10.4% during the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,887,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $144,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,573 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $358,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Merus by 4.1% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,637,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,834,000 after acquiring an additional 64,122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.