Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) Short Interest Down 48.0% in December

Merus N.V. (NASDAQ:MRUS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 817,936 shares, a drop of 48.0% from the November 30th total of 1,572,748 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,294,027 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,294,027 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merus

In related news, major shareholder A/S Genmab acquired 66,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.00 per share, for a total transaction of $6,427,608.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 72,013,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,985,267,305. The trade was a 0.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Harry Shuman sold 1,700 shares of Merus stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 11,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,057,292.20. This represents a 13.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 549,988 shares of company stock worth $53,348,836 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merus

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRUS. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merus during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merus by 10,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in Merus during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merus by 299.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Merus during the 3rd quarter worth $114,000. 96.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merus Stock Performance

Shares of MRUS stock traded down $6.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $90.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,721,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,903. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.98 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.50. Merus has a one year low of $33.19 and a one year high of $97.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRUS shares. William Blair cut Merus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. HC Wainwright cut Merus from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Merus in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Merus in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Merus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 29th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.