Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 37,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,610,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter valued at about $2,142,877,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth approximately $378,299,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moderna by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,131 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $564,272,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,621,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,290,000 after acquiring an additional 309,126 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the sale, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRNA. Barclays raised their price objective on Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $39.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.53.

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

Moderna Price Performance

Moderna stock opened at $137.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.29. Moderna, Inc. has a one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $176.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. Moderna’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.13) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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.