Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $208.90 and last traded at $200.8710, with a volume of 2574237 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $197.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Singular Research upgraded Moderna to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. William Blair began coverage on Moderna in a research note on Friday, August 28th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.72.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market cap of $79.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.73 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.95.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.13) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.09 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.07, for a total transaction of $5,883,845.67. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $228,165,576.03. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $4,685,093.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. This represents a 36.98% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,882 shares of company stock valued at $16,862,280. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 16.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Moderna by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moderna by 208.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moderna by 149.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can help prevent or treat disease, supporting the company’s work across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions, and cardiovascular diseases.

Moderna’s commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.