Citigroup Begins Coverage on Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN)

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN) in a research report sent to investors on Friday. The firm issued a buy rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock.

MRSN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Lifesci Capital upgraded Mersana Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Mersana Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.00.

Mersana Therapeutics Trading Down 12.3 %

Shares of Mersana Therapeutics stock opened at $2.21 on Friday. Mersana Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.22 and a fifty-two week high of $6.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.35. The firm has a market cap of $273.01 million, a PE ratio of -3.62 and a beta of 1.50.

Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $12.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 million. Mersana Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 401.37% and a negative net margin of 214.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 63.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.35) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Mersana Therapeutics will post -0.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin H. Jr. Huber sold 50,423 shares of Mersana Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $88,744.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 116,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,735.52. The trade was a 30.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,849 shares of company stock valued at $129,184. Corporate insiders own 11.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mersana Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 166.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 468,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 293,115 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Mersana Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,274,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,109,000 after buying an additional 36,782 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 976.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 8,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Mersana Therapeutics by 105,301.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 185,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 185,331 shares in the last quarter. 93.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mersana Therapeutics Company Profile

Mersana Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops antibody drug conjugates (ADC) for cancer patients with unmet needs. The company develops XMT-1660, a B7-H4-targeted Dolasynthen ADC candidate; and XMT-2056, an immunosynthen ADC. It has research and development collaborations with Janssen Biotech, Inc, Ares Trading SA, Merck KGaA, and Asana BioSciences, LLC for the development of ADC product candidates.