A/S Genmab Acquires 120,752 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab bought 120,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $11,712,944.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 71,583,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,943,631,413. This represents a 0.17% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large 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 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, for a total transaction of $14,627,115.00.

Merus Price Performance

Merus stock opened at $97.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.30 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.83. Merus N.V. has a 52-week low of $33.19 and a 52-week high of $97.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRUS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Needham & Company LLC cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Merus by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $198,588,000 after buying an additional 1,220,519 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 12.3% during the third quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,542,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $333,526,000 after acquiring an additional 386,945 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Merus by 99.4% during the first quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,369,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $141,831,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679,777 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Merus by 18.8% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,225,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,048,000 after acquiring an additional 351,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Merus by 4.4% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,132,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $200,774,000 after purchasing an additional 90,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

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.