Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Up 5.1%

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) shot up 5.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $44.19 and last traded at $44.11. 462,040 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 571,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial began coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Merus from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.33.

Merus Stock Up 7.1 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.79 and a beta of 1.10.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by ($0.38). Merus had a negative net margin of 352.56% and a negative return on equity of 50.61%. The company had revenue of $8.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merus will post -3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 14.2% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,801 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merus in the third quarter worth $33,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Merus by 142.1% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,477 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Merus by 47.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,084 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,916 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Merus by 10.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. 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.