Weiss Asset Management LP Purchases 61,500 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Weiss Asset Management LP boosted its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 190.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,720 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,500 shares during the quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP’s holdings in Moderna were worth $4,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moderna by 148.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRNA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $49.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Moderna from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $40.00.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $54.07 on Monday. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $85.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.52 and its 200-day moving average is $51.90. The firm has a market cap of $21.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.63 and a beta of 0.94.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.Moderna’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.52) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $433,878.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $183,800.16. This trade represents a 70.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,373,400. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moderna Company 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.