North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $359,000 in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 12,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moderna by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,131 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,192,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Moderna by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,779,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,091,000 after acquiring an additional 813,974 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Moderna by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 7,868,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,100,000 after acquiring an additional 626,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telemark Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,915,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna named James Mock as its new chief financial officer, a move that should help stabilize leadership in a key finance role. James Mock Joins Moderna as Chief Financial Officer
• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported five-year data showing their melanoma combination therapy reduced the risk of cancer spreading by 59%, supporting the company’s oncology pipeline. Moderna, Merck cancer combo cuts melanoma spread risk at five years
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a reported average rating of “Reduce,” suggesting the market still has reservations about near-term execution. Moderna, Inc. Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: The FDA’s rare advisory panel review of Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine introduces regulatory uncertainty for a program investors had been watching closely. USFDA to Convene Expert Panel Review for Moderna’s mRNA Flu Vaccine
• Negative Sentiment: Related reports said Moderna is facing FDA scrutiny on its flu shot, and the added regulatory review has been a drag on the stock. FDA plans rare advisory hearing to debate Moderna’s flu shot

Moderna Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $46.88 on Friday. Moderna, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.28 and a 12-month high of $59.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.75 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.59.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.52) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on Moderna in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $35.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total transaction of $2,581,462.40. Following the sale, the president owned 1,477,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,535,054.80. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Moderna stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $264,951.66. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,066 shares in the company, valued at $562,637.58. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 228,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,095,133 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

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.