Brokerages Set Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Target Price at $32.33

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.3333.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRNA. Leerink Partners reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $703,186.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,679.52. The trade was a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 160,009 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.84, for a total value of $7,814,839.56. Following the sale, the president directly owned 1,457,427 shares in the company, valued at $71,180,734.68. The trade was a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 94.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth $26,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 3,775.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $54.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.70. Moderna has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $59.55. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of -7.56 and a beta of 1.29.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported ($2.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.79) by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $678.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.14 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 30.15% and a negative net margin of 145.16%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 33.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.91) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.61 EPS for the current year.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.