Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRSN) Short Interest Up 21.1% in August

Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRSN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,280,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the August 15th total of 8,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.4 days.

Mersana Therapeutics Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRSN traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,388,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,455. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.62 million, a P/E ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. Mersana Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.07 and a one year high of $6.28.

Mersana Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRSN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). Mersana Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 333.91% and a negative net margin of 349.98%. The company had revenue of $2.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.47) EPS. Mersana Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mersana Therapeutics will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Mersana Therapeutics from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Mersana Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Mersana Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin H. Jr. Huber sold 50,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mersana Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRSN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 79,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,962 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 976.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 8,575 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mersana Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,448,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after buying an additional 20,400 shares during the period. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mersana Therapeutics by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 500,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 28,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.92% of the company’s stock.

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.