Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.7333.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRNA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on Moderna in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Moderna Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $47.57 on Friday. Moderna has a fifty-two week low of $22.28 and a fifty-two week high of $59.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.36.

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

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 SEC, 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total value of $2,581,462.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 1,477,997 shares in the company, valued at $71,535,054.80. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at about $415,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 732.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 10,185 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Moderna by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 23,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 8,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Moderna by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 48,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.