Sankala Group LLC Takes $240,000 Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at $2,425,000. Hamilton Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth $3,098,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 143.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 68,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 40,202 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter worth $1,416,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Moderna by 1,111.0% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 108,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 99,678 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $562,637.58. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Moderna from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Moderna Stock Performance

MRNA opened at $63.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.56 and a 200 day moving average of $45.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $67.74. The firm has a market cap of $25.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.85 and a beta of 1.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The company had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.52) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FDA advisers unanimously backed Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine, boosting confidence that the shot could win approval and become a new revenue driver if the agency follows the panel’s recommendation. Article: MRNA Up as Influenza Vaccine Wins Unanimous FDA Advisory Panel Backing
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also helped by reports that Moderna’s shares have been surging on the flu-vaccine catalyst, with some traders positioning for further upside ahead of the FDA’s final ruling. Article: US FDA advisers vote in favor of Moderna’s flu vaccine
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option buying signals that some investors are betting the rally can continue as the FDA review progresses. Article: Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) – Get Free Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Moderna’s president sold shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, which is worth noting but does not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s outlook. Article: Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) President Sells $2,739,870.32 in Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock may stay volatile until the FDA makes its final decision on the flu vaccine by Aug. 5. Article: Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine faces FDA advisory panel scrutiny

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.