Rakuten Securities Inc. Takes Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the first quarter worth $899,000. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at $161,642,545,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 1,387.6% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 22,590 shares during the period. Lingotto Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Moderna by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 498,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,706,000 after buying an additional 125,598 shares during the period. Finally, Nicollet Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Moderna during the fourth quarter worth about $897,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

More Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are assigning substantial commercial potential to the cancer program. Jefferies reportedly estimates as much as $54 billion in peak global sales and raised its price target to $170, while coverage highlighted the possibility that the trial could establish an oncology opportunity comparable to Merck’s Keytruda franchise. Jefferies sees $54 billion peak sales for Moderna cancer therapy
• Positive Sentiment: The favorable Phase 3 outcome has triggered analyst upgrades, including William Blair moving Moderna to Outperform and Bank of America raising its rating to Neutral. The stock also reached a new 12-month high amid renewed enthusiasm for mRNA-based cancer treatments. Moderna raised to Outperform at William Blair
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading has been exceptionally volatile for a third consecutive session. Analysts attribute the sharp swings partly to heavy short interest and a subsequent short squeeze, while options activity suggests elevated volatility may persist even without new clinical information. Moderna rallies as mRNA trading whipsaws
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns remain significant after the recent surge. JPMorgan raised its price target to $77 but retained an Underweight rating, implying substantial downside from current levels. Commentary also cautioned that the clinical success does not eliminate development, regulatory, manufacturing, commercialization, and pipeline risks for Moderna or other mRNA companies. JPMorgan raises Moderna price target but keeps Underweight rating

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $145.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a PE ratio of -18.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.10. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $176.66.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.13) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MRNA shares. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $39.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moderna from $50.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $41.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.50.

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.