Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell 7.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $59.66 and last traded at $59.3960. Approximately 1,437,462 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 9,140,032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Barclays raised their target price on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.60.

Moderna Stock Down 6.3%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.56 and its 200-day moving average is $45.38. 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 company has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 1.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The firm had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.52) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $562,637.58. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was 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 represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at $415,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 732.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 10,185 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Moderna in the first quarter valued at $230,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Moderna by 58.7% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 23,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 8,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 5.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 48,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.