Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $54.35, but opened at $58.08. Moderna shares last traded at $57.5630, with a volume of 6,034,963 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRNA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Moderna from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $35.73.

Moderna Stock 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 firm has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of -6.54 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.52) EPS. Moderna’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In related 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 owned 12,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $562,637.58. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 160,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.84, for a total transaction of $7,814,839.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 1,457,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,180,734.68. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Moderna by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in Moderna by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.