Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Up 5.1%

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Merus from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Merus from $40.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.33.

Merus Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of -14.79 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.58.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the 1st quarter worth $72,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter worth $221,000. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merus by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 157,817 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 27,082 shares in the last quarter. Great Point Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter worth $550,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merus in the 4th quarter worth $660,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.