Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading 3.9% Higher – Time to Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares rose 3.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.42 and last traded at $56.91. Approximately 884,791 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,323,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRNA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Moderna from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $88.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $140.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.65.

Moderna Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.92, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.49 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.69.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The firm had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($3.62) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,440.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,754. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,184 shares of company stock valued at $238,531 over the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 148.2% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 116,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,758,000 after purchasing an additional 69,313 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 56,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,676,000 after buying an additional 9,719 shares during the period. Tobam increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 121.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 27,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 15,249 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Moderna by 149.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 85,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,687,000 after buying an additional 51,000 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Moderna by 295.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 35,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,180,000 after acquiring an additional 26,300 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.