South Dakota Investment Council Acquires 11,500 Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,399 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,500 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Moderna were worth $12,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 295.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 286.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 896 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Stock Up 5.3 %

MRNA stock opened at $35.53 on Friday. Moderna, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.25 and a twelve month high of $170.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRNA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Moderna from $96.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Moderna from $41.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last quarter. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

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.