Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price traded down 1.2% on Friday. The company traded as low as $183.00 and last traded at $200.10. 21,427,765 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 70% from the average daily volume of 12,638,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.63.

Moderna News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Phase 3 results for Moderna and Merck’s intismeran autogene plus Keytruda showed a 42% reduction in the risk of melanoma recurrence or death, with favorable distant-metastasis results. Oncologists described the findings as an important advance in melanoma treatment. Moderna mRNA vaccine almost halves the risk of skin cancer returning
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s late-stage bird-flu vaccine trial and continued recognition as a leading biopharmaceutical employer provide additional support for Moderna’s broader pipeline and innovation strategy. Moderna Named a Top Employer by Science
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support, including a reported TD Cowen view that the stock could rise, may help stabilize sentiment after the sell-off. Moderna Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Cowen Analyst Says
• Neutral Sentiment: The trial information appeared online ahead of Moderna and Merck’s planned ESMO presentation, briefly intensifying uncertainty and contributing to extreme trading volatility, including a temporary trading halt. Moderna shares plunge after leak of partial cancer vaccine data
• Negative Sentiment: Investors viewed the episode as a “sell-the-news” event: the results were clinically meaningful but fell short of the exceptionally high expectations embedded in Moderna’s recent rally. Questions also remain about the vaccine’s potential beyond melanoma. Moderna sheds about $24 billion as cancer vaccine data triggers sell-the-news retreat

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $50.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.95.

Moderna Trading Down 1.2%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of -25.04 and a beta of 1.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total transaction of $8,640,084.40. Following the sale, the president directly owned 1,636,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,222,626.80. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 74,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,374,353.55. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Merck & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 1,387.6% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 2,042.6% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 69,203 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 stimulate immune responses or support the treatment of disease. The company’s research programs span infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions and other therapeutic areas.

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.