Syquant Capital Sas Makes New Investment in Merus N.V. $MRUS

Syquant Capital Sas purchased a new stake in Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 11,691 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,000. Merus accounts for 0.3% of Syquant Capital Sas’ holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Merus by 18.8% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,225,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,048,000 after buying an additional 351,616 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,042,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,430,000 after acquiring an additional 541,168 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merus by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,528,587 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,404,000 after acquiring an additional 483,962 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merus by 1,007.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,133,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Merus by 49.1% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,102,356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $57,984,000 after purchasing an additional 363,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder A/S Genmab purchased 1,052,806 shares of Merus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $102,122,182.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,884,293 shares in the company, valued at $7,166,776,421. The trade was a 1.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were 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 $1,055,311.84. The trade was a 43.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders bought 2,421,216 shares of company stock worth $234,857,952. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Merus Stock Down 7.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRUS opened at $90.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of -16.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $94.42 and its 200 day moving average is $80.98. Merus N.V. has a 52 week low of $33.19 and a 52 week high of $97.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRUS. William Blair downgraded shares of Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (down from $112.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Truist Financial cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $97.00 price target (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.