Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Down 7.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) traded down 7.9% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $96.00 to $78.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Moderna traded as low as $33.12 and last traded at $33.07. 7,547,098 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 12,792,683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.90.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MRNA. Leerink Partners cut their target price on Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.63.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 91.1% in the third quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 51,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 24,505 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter worth $3,550,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in Moderna by 341.3% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 38,400 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Moderna by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,614,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,885,000 after purchasing an additional 167,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its holdings in Moderna by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 315,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,842,000 after buying an additional 69,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Down 7.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.56 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.34.

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.