Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.26.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRNA shares. HSBC raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $51.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Moderna Stock Performance

MRNA stock opened at $32.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.60 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.87. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Moderna has a 12 month low of $31.94 and a 12 month high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.39) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 in the last 90 days. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 56,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. New Insight Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Moderna by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. New Insight Wealth Advisors now owns 8,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 107.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 326,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,586,000 after buying an additional 168,975 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,206,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,075,000 after acquiring an additional 535,273 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.