Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,763 shares of the company’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Moderna by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 25.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the third quarter worth about $105,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 13.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 281,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,127,000 after purchasing an additional 32,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 3.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 7,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $61,186.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,300 shares in the company, valued at $406,651. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total transaction of $61,186.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,300 shares in the company, valued at $406,651. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total transaction of $63,361.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,235.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,209 shares of company stock worth $20,951,971. 15.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $166.61 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.78. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.55 and a 52 week high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.03.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative net margin of 115.82% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue was down 91.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRNA shares. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.46.

Moderna Profile

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.