Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Shares Up 5.1%

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) shot 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 Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRUS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Merus from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial began coverage on Merus in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Merus from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut Merus from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.33.

Merus Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.71) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $8.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 expect that Merus will post -3.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Merus by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merus by 142.1% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,477 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Merus during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Merus by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently 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.