The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $120.00 to $137.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 39.46% from the stock’s current price.

MRNA has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moderna from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $45.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Moderna from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $81.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moderna has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Moderna Trading Up 4.6%

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $226.30 on Thursday. Moderna has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $227.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $149.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.67. The stock has a market cap of $90.35 billion, a PE ratio of -28.32 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, CFO James M. Mock sold 34,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $4,685,093.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares in the company, valued at $7,985,343.75. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. 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 118,882 shares of company stock worth $16,862,280 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth about $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the first quarter valued at approximately $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 1,387.6% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,013,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can help prevent or treat disease, supporting the company’s work across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions, and cardiovascular diseases.

Moderna’s commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.