Moderna Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 127,231 put options on the company. This is an increase of 86% compared to the typical volume of 68,321 put options.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $40.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.54. Moderna has a twelve month low of $35.80 and a twelve month high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.39) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRNA. HSBC upgraded Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Argus downgraded shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,379 shares of company stock valued at $158,195. Corporate insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,899,000 after buying an additional 1,823,276 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Moderna by 21.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,166,000 after acquiring an additional 906,114 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the third quarter worth approximately $23,825,000. 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 acquiring an additional 316,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,073,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,431,000 after purchasing an additional 178,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.