Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Down to $79.51

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $79.51, but opened at $67.89. Moderna shares last traded at $65.12, with a volume of 7,591,731 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Moderna from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $157.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Moderna from $204.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $120.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.53.

Moderna Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 3.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.06 and a 200 day moving average of $111.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a PE ratio of -4.36 and a beta of 1.67.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The firm had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($3.62) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,486.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.16, for a total transaction of $2,072,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 1,457,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,311,416.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,486.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 108,158 shares of company stock worth $13,239,712. 15.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV bought a new stake in Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 45.0% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.