Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Holdings in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,349 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Moderna were worth $2,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Moderna by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 4,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Moderna from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Moderna from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $214.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.96, for a total transaction of $30,844.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,486,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,808,007.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.92, for a total transaction of $1,663,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,026,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,827,186.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.96, for a total transaction of $30,844.80. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,486,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,808,007.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 396,239 shares of company stock valued at $55,428,337 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA traded down $1.21 on Monday, reaching $120.90. 670,305 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,992,223. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.08. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.55 and a 12 month high of $170.47. The firm has a market cap of $46.33 billion, a PE ratio of -7.79 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 20.10% and a negative net margin of 115.82%. The company had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 91.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.