Insider Buying: Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Major Shareholder Purchases 15,710 Shares of Stock

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab bought 15,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,523,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 72,028,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,986,791,175. This represents a 0.02% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

A/S Genmab also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, December 26th, A/S Genmab acquired 142,610 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $13,833,170.00.
• On Wednesday, December 24th, A/S Genmab acquired 96,082 shares of Merus stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $9,319,954.00.
• On Tuesday, December 23rd, A/S Genmab bought 561,042 shares of Merus stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $54,421,074.00.
• On Friday, December 19th, A/S Genmab purchased 66,264 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $6,427,608.00.
• On Thursday, December 18th, A/S Genmab purchased 212,177 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $20,581,169.00.
• On Wednesday, December 17th, A/S Genmab purchased 150,795 shares of Merus stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $14,627,115.00.
• On Tuesday, December 16th, A/S Genmab acquired 120,752 shares of Merus stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $11,712,944.00.

Merus Price Performance

Shares of MRUS traded down $6.92 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $90.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,726,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,265,370. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $95.87 and its 200 day moving average is $77.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of -16.98 and a beta of 1.06. Merus N.V. has a 1 year low of $33.19 and a 1 year high of $97.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 29th. HC Wainwright lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Merus by 199.1% during the 3rd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 3,994 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 2,188.6% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 740,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,708,000 after acquiring an additional 775,843 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in Merus in the third quarter worth about $68,838,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Merus by 870.1% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 50,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,708,000 after acquiring an additional 44,846 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Merus

Merus NV is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery and development of bispecific antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Utilizing its proprietary Biclonics® platform, Merus engineers fully human bispecific antibodies designed to engage immune cells and tumor targets simultaneously. The company’s research efforts are aimed at creating novel therapies with optimized potency, selectivity and safety profiles.

The Merus pipeline encompasses multiple Biclonics candidates in various stages of preclinical and clinical development.