Insider Buying: Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Major Shareholder Acquires 1,052,806 Shares of Stock

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab acquired 1,052,806 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $102,122,182.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 73,884,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,166,776,421. This trade represents a 1.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major 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 Friday, December 26th, A/S Genmab bought 2,978 shares of Merus stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $288,866.00.
• On Friday, December 26th, A/S Genmab purchased 142,610 shares of Merus stock. The shares were acquired 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 purchased at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,319,954.00.
• On Tuesday, December 23rd, A/S Genmab acquired 561,042 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $54,421,074.00.
• On Monday, December 22nd, A/S Genmab purchased 15,710 shares of Merus stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,523,870.00.
• On Friday, December 19th, A/S Genmab acquired 66,264 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought 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 bought 212,177 shares of Merus stock. The stock was acquired 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 shares were purchased 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 bought 120,752 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $11,712,944.00.

Merus Price Performance

Merus stock traded down $6.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $90.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,728,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,265,390. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.98 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.78 and its 200-day moving average is $77.75. Merus N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $33.19 and a fifty-two week high of $97.14.

More Merus News

Here are the key news stories impacting Merus this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder A/S Genmab executed multiple large purchases of Merus shares across Dec. 16–26 (totaling well over 800,000 shares at ~$97 each), increasing its stake and showing clear insider demand that can be read as confidence in the deal value. SEC Ownership Filing
• Positive Sentiment: Additional filings and reporting highlight several discrete purchases by Genmab (e.g., a 15,710?share buy disclosed Dec. 22), reinforcing the pattern of insider accumulation ahead of the corporate action. InsiderTrades Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading in MRUS was temporarily halted with the stated reason “News pending,” which often precedes material corporate disclosures and contributes to sudden intraday volatility while the market digests the announcement. (Trade?halt notice from exchange filings/news wires.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains mixed-to-neutral (consensus “Hold” and a roughly mid?$90s target), so broker commentary is unlikely to change the immediate direction absent clarity on deal consideration and timing. MarketBeat MRUS Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Merus confirmed completion of the transaction with Genmab and that Merus will delist from Nasdaq — a material corporate event that typically ends public trading of the ticker and can trigger forced selling, uncertainty over timing and consideration, and repricing of the remaining float. That delisting/transaction announcement is the most direct reason for the stock’s downward move today. TipRanks: Merus Completes Genmab Acquisition

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair lowered shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $72.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.56.

Institutional Trading of Merus

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRUS. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merus by 10,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Merus during the third quarter worth $75,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Merus by 299.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Merus in the 3rd quarter worth $114,000. 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.