Traders Buy Large Volume of Merus Call Options (NASDAQ:MRUS)

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 52,417 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 3,555% compared to the average volume of 1,434 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.10, for a total value of $163,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,002 shares in the company, valued at $1,057,292.20. The trade was a 13.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder A/S Genmab acquired 66,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $6,427,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 72,013,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,985,267,305. The trade was a 0.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders purchased 549,988 shares of company stock valued at $53,348,836. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRUS. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted 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 valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 3,994 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 2,188.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 740,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,708,000 after acquiring an additional 775,843 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Merus during the third quarter worth $68,838,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Merus in the 3rd quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Merus by 870.1% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 50,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,708,000 after purchasing an additional 44,846 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Stock Performance

MRUS stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.92. 362,694 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,259,284. Merus has a one year low of $33.19 and a one year high of $97.14. The company has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -18.29 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRUS. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Merus in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Lifesci Capital reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Merus in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Merus in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Merus in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.