Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 49,596 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,670 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,596 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $1,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,351,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,291,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,085,000 after buying an additional 163,031 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 215,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,577,000 after buying an additional 39,056 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $907,000. Finally, Telemark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,915,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on MRNA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $35.73.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $264,951.66. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $562,637.58. This represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total transaction of $2,581,462.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,477,997 shares in the company, valued at $71,535,054.80. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 68,281 shares of company stock valued at $3,280,293 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $47.57 on Friday. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $59.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.34 and a 200-day moving average of $42.36.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.Moderna’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.52) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.