Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Stock analysts at Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.58% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays cut their price target on Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Moderna in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.22.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $39.77 on Friday. Moderna has a one year low of $38.76 and a one year high of $170.47. The stock has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of -6.83 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.39) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at $571,440.60. This represents a 7.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 2,930 shares of company stock valued at $217,170 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 15.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,036,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,159,769,000 after purchasing an additional 5,129,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $21,353,000 after buying an additional 316,552 shares during the period. Matrix Capital Management Company LP grew its position in shares of Moderna by 60.8% during the 1st quarter. Matrix Capital Management Company LP now owns 730,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,789,000 after buying an additional 276,000 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Moderna by 201.9% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 274,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,567,000 after acquiring an additional 183,407 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Moderna by 6.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,073,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,431,000 after acquiring an additional 178,939 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by 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.