Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Up 3.9% – What’s Next?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price shot up 3.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.42 and last traded at $56.91. 884,791 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 4,323,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Moderna from $157.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.65.

Moderna Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.97 and its 200-day moving average is $102.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.92. The stock has a market cap of $21.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 1.66.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 21.35% and a negative net margin of 116.18%. The company had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($3.62) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total value of $1,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,792,839.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $682,754. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total transaction of $1,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,792,839.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,184 shares of company stock worth $2,037,931 in the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moderna by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,036,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,159,769,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129,800 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Moderna by 42.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,545,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,724,000 after acquiring an additional 463,960 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 156.9% during the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 741,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,044,000 after purchasing an additional 453,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 10,687.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 319,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,353,000 after purchasing an additional 316,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Moderna by 1,212.9% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 330,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,251,000 after purchasing an additional 305,609 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Moderna

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.