Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,749,010 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 5,247,541 shares.The stock last traded at $47.40 and had previously closed at $42.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRNA shares. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Moderna in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Moderna Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.99 and its 200 day moving average is $70.69. The stock has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a PE ratio of -7.42 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.39) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 773,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,175,000 after purchasing an additional 298,715 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moderna by 4.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 379,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,359,000 after buying an additional 15,218 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 73.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 16,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Moderna by 1.4% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 287,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,978 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.