Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Major Shareholder A/S Genmab Buys 15,710 Shares

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab acquired 15,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,523,870.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 72,028,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,986,791,175. The trade was a 0.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

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

Merus Trading Down 7.1%

Shares of Merus stock opened at $90.00 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.78 and its 200 day moving average is $77.75. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merus in the first quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Merus by 99.4% in the 1st 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. Allostery Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 473.5% in the 1st quarter. Allostery Investments LP now owns 124,657 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 102,922 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merus by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 160,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,734,000 after purchasing an additional 80,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the first quarter worth $520,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRUS shares. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Lifesci Capital reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Merus

Here are the key news stories impacting Merus this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder A/S Genmab executed multiple, sizable purchases of Merus stock on Dec. 22–26 (totaling >815,000 shares at an average of $97.00), nudging its ownership higher and signaling continued insider confidence in the company. Institutional buying at these sizes can be a bullish signal for longer‑term holders. SEC Ownership Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity was reported in Merus recently; such flows can reflect speculative trading, hedging by institutional players, or positioning ahead of news/events — this increases near‑term volatility but is ambiguous for direction. Merus Target of Unusually Large Options Trading

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.