D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 15,851 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 29.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 70,141 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,851 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $13,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 347.1% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 30,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,786,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the 3rd quarter worth about $359,000. Conning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter valued at about $351,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,560,000. Finally, Jacobsen Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter valued at about $257,000. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders sold 197,251 shares of company stock worth $33,875,904. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moderna Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of Moderna stock opened at $222.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.88 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $180.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.58. Moderna, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.28 and a 1 year high of $254.48.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released 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. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.13) EPS. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine candidate recently produced positive clinical-trial data, renewing investor optimism about a potentially significant oncology business. The upcoming Nov. 6 event or update could provide another near-term catalyst. Will Moderna Soar on Nov. 6?
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Stéphane Bancel defended the melanoma-vaccine results, saying the data should improve over time and that Moderna’s technology may be difficult for competitors to replicate. He also expressed confidence that the platform could work in cancers beyond melanoma. Moderna CEO Cancer Vaccine Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Moderna’s ESMO presentation highlighted the science behind its oncology pipeline, but investors now want evidence that the program can translate into commercial revenue and improve the company’s financial outlook. Moderna ESMO Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy investor searches for Moderna indicate elevated market interest, but the coverage does not identify a new fundamental development by itself. Investors Heavily Search Moderna
• Negative Sentiment: William Blair lowered Moderna to Market Perform from Outperform, citing valuation concerns after the stock’s strong oncology-driven advance. The downgrade suggests much of the cancer-vaccine optimism may already be reflected in the shares. William Blair Downgrades Moderna
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst lowered the FY2028 EPS estimate, reinforcing concerns about Moderna’s path to profitability and the premium valuation investors are assigning to its future pipeline. Comparisons with GSK emphasize that Moderna offers greater oncology upside but less income and currently higher execution risk. GSK vs. Moderna Growth Comparison

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Singular Research upgraded shares of Moderna to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Brookline Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (up from $167.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.10.

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.