Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA – Get Rating)’s share price was down 7.4% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $127.36 and last traded at $127.48. Approximately 59,188 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 6,453,154 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.74.Specifically, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 10,000 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $1,276,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,527,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $322,699,317.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO David W. Meline sold 164 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.66, for a total value of $28,480.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 2,857 shares in the company, valued at $496,146.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 10,000 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $1,276,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,527,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $322,699,317.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 653,048 shares of company stock valued at $102,324,342 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 17.30% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRNA. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $155.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $199.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 4th. Finally, SVB Leerink boosted their price target on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.08.
Moderna Price Performance
The company has a market capitalization of $50.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.89, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The company reported $5.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.73 by $0.51. Moderna had a net margin of 61.12% and a return on equity of 94.76%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post 26.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Moderna by 22.1% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 2,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 103.8% during the first quarter. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC now owns 214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 79.5% during the first quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 112.5% during the first quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 60.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Moderna
Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and auto-immune diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, flu, respiratory syncytial virus, Endemic HCoV, and hMPV+PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, human immunodeficiency virus, herpes simplex virus, and varicella-zoster virus vaccines; and public health vaccines consists of Zika and Nipah vaccines.