Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Downgraded by William Blair to Market Perform

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MRNA. Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, September 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on Moderna from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moderna from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Brookline Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.10.

Moderna Stock Down 0.6%

MRNA stock opened at $198.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $79.39 billion, a PE ratio of -24.89 and a beta of 1.09. Moderna has a 1 year low of $22.28 and a 1 year high of $254.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.87.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.13) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total transaction of $5,807,574.22. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 1,525,858 shares in the company, valued at $219,921,913.54. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 sale, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,374,353.55. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Moderna by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 886 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 222 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 3.9% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial met its primary endpoint. Adding intismeran to Merck’s Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% versus Keytruda alone; the combination also reduced distant metastasis or death by 38%. The vaccine’s delayed improvement after six months could support the case for a durable immune response. Merck and Moderna’s Cancer Vaccine Worked—Who Gets Paid?
• Positive Sentiment: The melanoma program could become a major revenue source for Moderna if approved. Analysts cited in the coverage estimate peak annual melanoma sales of approximately $5.4 billion, with Moderna and Merck sharing development costs and profits equally. Regulatory filing timing and manufacturing plans are now key catalysts. Moderna and Merck’s Promising Skin Cancer Vaccine
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Moderna’s next earnings report for updates on losses, declining COVID revenue, product launches and the broader pipeline. The company remains unprofitable, making progress toward commercializing newer products especially important. What to Expect From Moderna’s Next Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: The Phase 3 benefit was below the roughly 49% recurrence reduction from the earlier study and below what investors had priced in. The resulting selloff suggests the stock’s valuation—largely based on future cancer-vaccine revenue—left little room for disappointment. Commercial execution is also unproven because each vaccine is individually manufactured for a patient. Moderna’s Rally May Have Run Out of Steam

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 stimulate immune responses or support the treatment of disease. The company’s research programs span infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions and other therapeutic areas.

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.