Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading 4.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) were up 4.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $41.50 and last traded at $41.16. Approximately 1,823,836 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 5,115,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Argus cut Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.50.

Moderna Stock Up 2.3 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.53 and its 200 day moving average is $74.79. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.92 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This trade represents a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,379 shares of company stock worth $158,195. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $1,125,899,000 after buying an additional 1,823,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,069,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,670,000 after purchasing an additional 178,115 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Moderna by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,166,000 after purchasing an additional 906,114 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Moderna by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,890,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,023,000 after buying an additional 19,819 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Moderna by 6.2% during 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 period. 75.33% of the stock is currently 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.