Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN) Coverage Initiated at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Friday. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 126.24% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MRSN. Lifesci Capital raised Mersana Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Mersana Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $6.00.

Mersana Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of MRSN traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $2.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,010,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,613,163. Mersana Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.22 and a 1-year high of $6.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $271.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.85 and a beta of 1.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.07.

Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.72 million. Mersana Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 214.20% and a negative return on equity of 305.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.47) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mersana Therapeutics will post -0.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mersana Therapeutics news, CEO Martin H. Jr. Huber sold 50,423 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 116,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,735.52. This represents a 30.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 70,849 shares of company stock worth $129,184 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Mersana Therapeutics by 186.0% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 347,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 225,823 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 16.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 618,305 shares of the company's stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 85,439 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Mersana Therapeutics by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,725,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 43,339 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Mersana Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Mersana Therapeutics by 104.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 993,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 507,453 shares during the last quarter. 93.92% of the stock is currently 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.