Moderna Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 221,493 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 169% compared to the average volume of 82,442 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.58.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $33.76. 7,323,516 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,449,448. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.32. The company has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.80 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. Moderna has a 12-month low of $31.94 and a 12-month high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.39) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Moderna during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Moderna by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Moderna by 365.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moderna by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 477.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

About Moderna

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.