Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $37.54 and last traded at $37.87, with a volume of 438895 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MRUS. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Merus in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merus from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.31.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Merus

Merus Stock Down 8.7 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.09 and a 200 day moving average of $45.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.65 and a beta of 1.02.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. The company had revenue of $9.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 million. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. Analysts predict that Merus will post -3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,899,521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,125,000 after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Merus by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,497,653 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,076,000 after buying an additional 610,139 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Merus by 7.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,256,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,722,000 after buying an additional 150,341 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $89,356,000 after buying an additional 770,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,895,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Merus

(Get Free Report)

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.

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