Terns Pharmaceuticals jumps after Merck agrees to acquire it for $53 per share in cash

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TERN) is up 5.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: Shares appear to be moving higher after Merck & Co. agreed to acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals in an all-cash deal. The buyout price anchors near-term valuation, while investors weigh the remaining closing timeline and typical deal-approval conditions.

Details:

Merck agreed to buy Terns Pharmaceuticals for $53.00 per share in cash, valuing the equity at roughly $6.7 billion.

The transaction structure is a tender offer to be initiated by a Merck subsidiary, with completion contingent on stockholder participation and customary conditions.

Both companies’ boards approved the deal, and closing was guided for the second quarter of 2026.

Terns’ lead oncology asset highlighted in deal coverage is TERN-701, an investigational therapy being developed for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Sources:

Associated Press, Axios

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$TERN Insider Trading Activity

$TERN insiders have traded $TERN stock on the open market 12 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 12 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $TERN stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

AMY L. BURROUGHS (Chief Executive Officer) has made 0 purchases and 8 sales selling 169,254 shares for an estimated $6,519,520.
JILL M. QUIGLEY sold 24,520 shares for an estimated $441,360
EMIL KURIAKOSE (Chief Medical Officer) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 2,099 shares for an estimated $51,959.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$TERN Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 187 institutional investors add shares of $TERN stock to their portfolio, and 67 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

SOLEUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. removed 7,914,390 shares (-97.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $319,741,356
DEEP TRACK CAPITAL, LP removed 6,725,952 shares (-89.7%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $271,728,460
ORBIMED ADVISORS LLC removed 5,409,671 shares (-71.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $218,550,708
VESTAL POINT CAPITAL, LP added 4,500,000 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $181,800,000
COMMODORE CAPITAL LP removed 4,225,000 shares (-74.1%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $170,690,000
JANUS HENDERSON GROUP PLC added 3,379,569 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $136,534,587
CAPITOLIS LIQUID GLOBAL MARKETS LLC added 3,045,200 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $123,026,080

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$TERN Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $TERN in the last several months. We have seen 8 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Citizens issued a "Market Outperform" rating on 12/11/2025
HC Wainwright & Co. issued a "Buy" rating on 12/09/2025
Mizuho issued a "Outperform" rating on 12/09/2025
Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 11/25/2025
Truist Securities issued a "Buy" rating on 11/19/2025
BMO Capital issued a "Outperform" rating on 11/18/2025
Jefferies issued a "Buy" rating on 11/03/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $TERN, check out Quiver Quantitative's $TERN forecast page.

$TERN Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $TERN recently. We have seen 10 analysts offer price targets for $TERN in the last 6 months, with a median target of $55.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Silvan Tuerkcan from Citizens set a target price of $57.0 on 12/11/2025
Andres Y. Maldonado from HC Wainwright & Co. set a target price of $60.0 on 12/09/2025
Etzer Darout from Barclays set a target price of $56.0 on 12/09/2025
Evan Seigerman from BMO Capital set a target price of $54.0 on 12/09/2025
Srikripa Devarakonda from Truist Securities set a target price of $56.0 on 12/09/2025
Graig Suvannavejh from Mizuho set a target price of $54.0 on 12/09/2025
Jay Olson from Oppenheimer set a target price of $58.0 on 12/09/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.