Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Argus currently has $180.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MRNA. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moderna from $50.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.53.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $137.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.85. Moderna has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $176.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.13) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Moderna will post -6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Moderna by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,584,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,226,335,000 after purchasing an additional 399,487 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth about $2,142,877,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Moderna by 6,698.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,681,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,523,000 after acquiring an additional 27,274,128 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,299,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 15.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,223,000 after buying an additional 1,115,131 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda, met the goals of a Phase 3 study involving 1,137 patients. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and distant spread versus Keytruda alone, strengthening the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and the commercial potential of the partnership. Reuters cancer vaccine breakthrough article
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved Moderna’s updated 2026–2027 Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the XFG subvariant. The approval preserves access to the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine market, though future demand remains an important uncertainty. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded Moderna from “Hold” to “Buy” and assigned a $180 price target, indicating additional potential upside based on the company’s oncology opportunity and recent clinical progress. Argus upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer advised a viewer to hold Moderna after the stock’s sharp rally, reflecting continued optimism about the Phase 3 cancer-vaccine result but also caution following the run-up. Jim Cramer Moderna commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna priced an upsized $2.6 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032, increased from the initially proposed $2.0 billion. Proceeds may fund oncology investments and debt repayment, but the larger financing raised concerns about future share dilution and explains much of the selling pressure. Moderna convertible notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s decision to halt a mid-stage personalized mRNA colorectal-cancer vaccine trial after a review weakened sentiment across the mRNA oncology sector, raising broader questions about the difficulty of translating promising technology into successful cancer treatments. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.