Traders Purchase High Volume of Moderna Put Options (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 72,594 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 60% compared to the typical daily volume of 45,264 put options.

Moderna Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $68.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.19 and a 200-day moving average of $110.97. Moderna has a 12 month low of $62.55 and a 12 month high of $170.47. The company has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a PE ratio of -4.34 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 3.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($3.62) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,754. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total value of $1,816,800.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,442,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,665,819.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,754. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,158 shares of company stock valued at $11,167,312. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the first quarter worth $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Moderna by 953.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. HSBC upgraded Moderna from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Hsbc Global Res raised Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.44.

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.