Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) Major Shareholder A/S Genmab Buys 1,052,806 Shares

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) major shareholder A/S Genmab acquired 1,052,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $102,122,182.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 73,884,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,166,776,421. The trade was a 1.45% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% 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 purchased 2,978 shares of Merus stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $288,866.00.
• On Friday, December 26th, A/S Genmab purchased 142,610 shares of Merus stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $13,833,170.00.
• On Wednesday, December 24th, A/S Genmab acquired 96,082 shares of Merus stock. The shares were purchased 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 acquired 561,042 shares of Merus stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $54,421,074.00.
• On Monday, December 22nd, A/S Genmab bought 15,710 shares of Merus stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $1,523,870.00.
• On Friday, December 19th, A/S Genmab purchased 66,264 shares of Merus stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $6,427,608.00.
• On Thursday, December 18th, A/S Genmab purchased 212,177 shares of Merus stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 stock was purchased at an average price 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 shares were acquired at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $11,712,944.00.

Merus Price Performance

MRUS stock opened at $90.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merus

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merus by 199.1% in the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merus by 2,188.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 740,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,708,000 after acquiring an additional 775,843 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Merus in the third quarter worth about $68,838,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Merus in the third quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its stake in Merus by 870.1% during the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 50,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,708,000 after acquiring an additional 44,846 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Merus

Here are the key news stories impacting Merus this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A/S Genmab (a major shareholder) has accumulated large blocks of Merus stock across Dec. 16–29, including a reported 1,052,806‑share purchase on Dec. 29 at ~$97 per share — increasing its stake and signaling strong insider/acquirer conviction. This sizeable, repeated buying can be interpreted as bullish support under the shares. SEC Ownership Filing
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional investors have also added positions in recent quarters (e.g., Paradigm Biocapital, Magnetar, Ameriprise), indicating continued institutional interest that can support the longer‑term valuation case. MarketBeat Institutional Ownership
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading of MRUS was temporarily halted with a “news pending” notice — a procedural event that typically precedes material announcements and can cause short‑term volume/volatility without indicating direction. (Reported earlier today.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity has been reported in MRUS recently; such flows often reflect speculative positioning or hedging and tend to increase intraday volatility but are ambiguous for price direction. Options Flow Report
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate Merus has completed a Genmab acquisition and will delist from Nasdaq — a material corporate action that can reduce public float/liquidity and prompt re‑pricing or forced selling by some investors; that development is a likely contributor to the pullback in the stock. TipRanks: Acquisition/Delisting

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRUS. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Monday, September 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup downgraded Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.56.

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.