Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock Price

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) had its price target dropped by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $85.00 to $83.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 79.58% from the stock’s previous close.

MRUS has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Merus from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Merus in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Merus in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merus has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.77.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS opened at $46.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.70 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.84. Merus has a 1-year low of $37.77 and a 1-year high of $61.61.

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.48. Merus had a negative net margin of 680.61% and a negative return on equity of 38.89%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merus will post -3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Merus by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Merus during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merus in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.