Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Upgraded to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MRNA. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair raised Moderna from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, June 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.25.

Moderna Stock Up 144.6%

Shares of MRNA traded up $91.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $154.02. 139,918,642 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,402,954. The company has a market cap of $61.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.33 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.94. Moderna has a 1-year low of $22.28 and a 1-year high of $163.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced 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 analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%.Moderna’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 firm posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Moderna will post -6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $433,878.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $183,800.16. This trade represents a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,070 shares of company stock worth $3,347,299. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Archer Investment Corp purchased a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 148.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The INTerpath-001 trial met its primary endpoints for recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. Adding intismeran to Merck’s Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma returning or spreading compared with Keytruda alone, marking the first positive late-stage validation of a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine. Merck and Moderna announce positive Phase 3 INTerpath-001 results
• Positive Sentiment: The results substantially improve Moderna’s long-term growth outlook by supporting a potential oncology franchise beyond its COVID-19 and respiratory vaccine business. Investors also viewed the data as validating the company’s mRNA platform, while short covering likely amplified the move; short sellers faced unusually large losses as the stock surged. Reuters report on Moderna short sellers
• Positive Sentiment: William Blair upgraded Moderna from “market perform” to “outperform,” adding analyst support to the positive clinical readout. The company also received FDA approval for mFLUSIVA, its seasonal mRNA influenza vaccine, creating a potential additional commercial revenue source. The Fly report on William Blair’s upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: The cancer-vaccine announcement provided topline results, and analysts are awaiting detailed efficacy, safety and follow-up data. The companies must still pursue regulatory approval and establish manufacturing and pricing for a complex individualized therapy. Reuters analysis of Moderna-Merck melanoma data
• Negative Sentiment: Put-option purchases were approximately 258% above typical daily volume, signaling heightened hedging or bearish speculation. Such activity may increase volatility, although it could also reflect investors protecting gains after the dramatic rally.

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.