Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 52,417 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 3,555% compared to the typical volume of 1,434 call options.

Merus Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:MRUS traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $96.92. The company had a trading volume of 362,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,259,284. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $95.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.91. Merus has a one year low of $33.19 and a one year high of $97.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -18.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In related news, major shareholder A/S Genmab acquired 212,177 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.00 per share, with a total value of $20,581,169.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 71,946,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,978,839,697. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Harry Shuman sold 8,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.92, for a total value of $796,136.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,311.84. This trade represents a 43.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired 549,988 shares of company stock worth $53,348,836 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Merus by 299.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merus in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merus by 10,400.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the third quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Merus in the third quarter valued at about $114,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MRUS. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Lifesci Capital reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. William Blair lowered Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Merus in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.