Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) traded up 1.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $148.93 and last traded at $145.62. Approximately 8,791,650 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 11,582,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.77.

Moderna News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm remains focused on reported Phase 3 success for Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine. The program could become a significant growth driver and help offset declining COVID-19 vaccine revenue. Moderna cancer vaccine rally article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets have extended the rally, signaling greater confidence in Moderna’s oncology strategy and its partnership with Merck. Speculation that Merck could potentially acquire Moderna has added to investor interest, although no transaction has been announced. Why Merck Should Buy Moderna
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage describes the move as a continuation of a month-long recovery in MRNA, with investors increasingly valuing Moderna’s broader pipeline rather than focusing only on its COVID-19 products. The latest quarterly results also modestly supported the turnaround narrative: revenue exceeded estimates and the per-share loss was narrower than expected. Why Moderna shares are soaring
• Neutral Sentiment: Moderna’s advance has continued without a new company disclosure on the latest trading day, suggesting momentum and reassessment of the cancer-vaccine opportunity are driving the move. That also leaves the stock vulnerable to volatility if additional clinical or commercial confirmation is delayed. Moderna cancer vaccine trade article
• Negative Sentiment: President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares for about $5.8 million on September 14 and an additional 40,281 shares for about $5.9 million on September 15. The sales were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as a discretionary bearish signal, but insider selling may still weigh on sentiment. Moderna insider selling article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MRNA. Bradesco Corretora upgraded Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. CLSA raised shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Brookline Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.72.

Moderna Trading Up 8.5%

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 company has a market cap of $63.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.78 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.58.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.13) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.07, for a total transaction of $5,883,845.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 1,562,029 shares in the company, valued at $228,165,576.03. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 34,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $4,685,093.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. The trade was a 36.98% 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 sold a total of 118,882 shares of company stock valued at $16,862,280 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 17.0% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 208.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 149.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 7,137 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $268,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines and vaccines. Its platform is designed to provide cells with instructions to produce proteins that may help prevent or treat infectious diseases, cancer and other medical conditions.

The company’s commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults. Moderna also maintains a pipeline of investigational programs in areas such as seasonal influenza, cytomegalovirus, oncology and rare diseases.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Moderna serves markets in the United States and internationally through regulatory approvals, commercial partnerships and distribution arrangements.