A/S Genmab Buys 66,264 Shares of Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Stock

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab purchased 66,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $6,427,608.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 72,013,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,985,267,305. This represents a 0.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Thursday, December 18th, A/S Genmab purchased 212,177 shares of Merus stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $20,581,169.00.
• On Wednesday, December 17th, A/S Genmab acquired 150,795 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $14,627,115.00.
• On Tuesday, December 16th, A/S Genmab purchased 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 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $96.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -18.28 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.75 and a 200-day moving average of $76.63. Merus N.V. has a 12 month low of $33.19 and a 12 month high of $97.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRUS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. HC Wainwright downgraded Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRUS. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its position in Merus by 99.4% in the 1st 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. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merus during the third quarter worth $98,406,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merus by 1,007.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,133,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,457 shares during the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merus in the third quarter worth $91,326,000. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Merus in the third quarter valued at $78,672,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Merus Company Profile

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.