North Star Asset Management Inc. Takes $263,000 Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moderna by 148.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 35.1% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $67.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.53.

Key Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda, met the goals of a Phase 3 study involving 1,137 patients. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and distant spread versus Keytruda alone, strengthening the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and the commercial potential of the partnership. Reuters cancer vaccine breakthrough article
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved Moderna’s updated 2026–2027 Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the XFG subvariant. The approval preserves access to the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine market, though future demand remains an important uncertainty. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded Moderna from “Hold” to “Buy” and assigned a $180 price target, indicating additional potential upside based on the company’s oncology opportunity and recent clinical progress. Argus upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer advised a viewer to hold Moderna after the stock’s sharp rally, reflecting continued optimism about the Phase 3 cancer-vaccine result but also caution following the run-up. Jim Cramer Moderna commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna priced an upsized $2.6 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032, increased from the initially proposed $2.0 billion. Proceeds may fund oncology investments and debt repayment, but the larger financing raised concerns about future share dilution and explains much of the selling pressure. Moderna convertible notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s decision to halt a mid-stage personalized mRNA colorectal-cancer vaccine trial after a review weakened sentiment across the mRNA oncology sector, raising broader questions about the difficulty of translating promising technology into successful cancer treatments. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the president owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moderna Trading Down 3.3%

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $137.99 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.11 and a 200 day moving average of $59.73. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $176.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($2.13) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Moderna 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.