EFG International AG Buys New Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

EFG International AG purchased a new stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 54,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,799,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Moderna by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Brookline Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. William Blair raised Moderna from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.31.

Moderna Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $149.66 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.05 and a 200 day moving average of $58.46. Moderna, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $176.66. The stock has a market cap of $59.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.73 and a beta of 0.91.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.13) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck’s individualized mRNA cancer vaccine, intismeran autogene, reportedly reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence by 49% in a late-stage study when used with Keytruda. The results reinforce Moderna’s strategy of expanding beyond COVID-19 vaccines and could support a large oncology opportunity. Skin cancer vaccine report
• Positive Sentiment: Wolfe Research upgraded Moderna following the Phase 3 oncology data and estimated a potential cancer-vaccine market opportunity of approximately $9.2 billion. That outlook helped fuel the recent rally and improves confidence that Moderna may develop meaningful non-COVID revenue. Wolfe cancer-vaccine opportunity report
• Positive Sentiment: The FDA’s approval of the first mRNA-based flu vaccine highlights growing recognition of mRNA technology and may increase the strategic and patent value of platforms used by companies such as Moderna. FDA mRNA flu vaccine report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors are increasingly viewing Moderna as an oncology and platform-technology company rather than solely a COVID-19 vaccine maker. However, recent trading alerts and analyst-driven momentum appear to have amplified volatility, making the shares vulnerable to profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upgrade, the stock is giving back part of its rally because Moderna’s roughly $59 billion valuation remains difficult to justify against a loss-making business and weak near-term revenue. The company reported a quarterly loss and continues to face uncertainty over the timing and probability of commercializing its pipeline. Moderna valuation and pullback report
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage also cautions that the cancer-vaccine evidence remains limited and that manufacturing personalization, treatment costs, regulatory review and broad adoption could restrict the therapy’s eventual use. Cancer-vaccine barriers explainer
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna’s CEO warned that China’s state-backed investment in mRNA technology is intensifying global competition, potentially increasing pressure on intellectual property, pricing and long-term market share. China mRNA competition report

Moderna Company 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.