Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Down 7% – Here’s Why

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s stock price fell 7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $74.11 and last traded at $74.2230. 2,186,441 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 9,279,514 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $38.27.

Moderna Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $29.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.93.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.52) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $562,637.58. This trade represents 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 sold a total of 125,088 shares of company stock worth $6,193,713 in the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in Moderna in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $28,000. Encore Global Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the first quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% 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.