Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading 11.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price was up 11.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $39.11 and last traded at $39.98. Approximately 2,436,423 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 11,231,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRNA shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Moderna from $108.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.58.

Moderna Trading Up 9.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of -6.77 and a beta of 1.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.39) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last quarter. Insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Moderna by 12.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,899,000 after buying an additional 1,823,276 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Moderna by 21.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,166,000 after acquiring an additional 906,114 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter worth $23,825,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Moderna by 10,687.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 319,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,353,000 after purchasing an additional 316,552 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in Moderna by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 773,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,175,000 after buying an additional 298,715 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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, 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.