Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys New Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 37,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,610,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the first quarter worth about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 148.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 35.1% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda, met the goals of a Phase 3 study involving 1,137 patients. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and distant spread versus Keytruda alone, strengthening the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and the commercial potential of the partnership. Reuters cancer vaccine breakthrough article
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved Moderna’s updated 2026–2027 Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the XFG subvariant. The approval preserves access to the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine market, though future demand remains an important uncertainty. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded Moderna from “Hold” to “Buy” and assigned a $180 price target, indicating additional potential upside based on the company’s oncology opportunity and recent clinical progress. Argus upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer advised a viewer to hold Moderna after the stock’s sharp rally, reflecting continued optimism about the Phase 3 cancer-vaccine result but also caution following the run-up. Jim Cramer Moderna commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna priced an upsized $2.6 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032, increased from the initially proposed $2.0 billion. Proceeds may fund oncology investments and debt repayment, but the larger financing raised concerns about future share dilution and explains much of the selling pressure. Moderna convertible notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s decision to halt a mid-stage personalized mRNA colorectal-cancer vaccine trial after a review weakened sentiment across the mRNA oncology sector, raising broader questions about the difficulty of translating promising technology into successful cancer treatments. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $137.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a PE ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.85. Moderna, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $176.66.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The company had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.13) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,400. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s 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 owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Brookline Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, CLSA upgraded Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.53.

Moderna Profile

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.