A/S Genmab Buys 150,795 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab bought 150,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $14,627,115.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 71,734,624 shares in the company, valued at $6,958,258,528. This represents a 0.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Tuesday, December 16th, A/S Genmab purchased 120,752 shares of Merus stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $11,712,944.00.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS stock opened at $97.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.83. Merus N.V. has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $97.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of -18.30 and a beta of 1.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merus

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its stake in Merus by 99.4% during the first quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,369,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $141,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,777 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merus by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $198,588,000 after buying an additional 1,220,519 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Merus in the third quarter valued at $98,406,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Merus by 1,007.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,133,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Merus during the third quarter valued at about $91,326,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Lifesci Capital reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merus has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.56.

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.