Insider Selling: Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) President Sells 39,145 Shares of Company Stock

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) President Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total transaction of $8,640,084.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 1,636,565 shares in the company, valued at $361,222,626.80. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Stephen Hoge also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 14th, Stephen Hoge sold 39,224 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.48, for a total transaction of $8,373,539.52.
• On Monday, September 14th, Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total transaction of $5,807,574.22.
• On Tuesday, September 15th, Stephen Hoge sold 40,281 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.07, for a total transaction of $5,883,845.67.

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA traded down $18.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $218.01. 21,331,755 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,344,437. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a PE ratio of -27.29 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $153.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.98. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.28 and a 1-year high of $242.29.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.13) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm remains centered on Moderna’s upcoming personalized cancer-vaccine data, particularly melanoma results expected next week. The catalyst helped drive the recent rally and keeps the company’s oncology pipeline in focus. Moderna falls ahead of cancer vaccine data next week
• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck’s earlier cancer-vaccine progress continues to support optimism about the companies’ oncology strategy, although additional development work is still required. Merck and Moderna cancer vaccine strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $137 from $120 while retaining a Neutral rating. The increase acknowledges Moderna’s momentum, but the target remains well below the stock’s recent trading level. Goldman raises Moderna price target
• Negative Sentiment: After gaining sharply on cancer-vaccine expectations, Moderna is experiencing profit-taking as investors reassess whether the rally has moved ahead of near-term fundamentals. Analysts have highlighted the company’s continuing losses, negative free cash flow, and valuation sensitivity to successful pipeline execution. Moderna stock sinks as Wall Street turns cautious
• Negative Sentiment: The selloff is also affecting vaccine developers broadly, with Novavax under heavier pressure and other vaccine stocks weakening. This sector-wide risk reduction is adding to selling pressure on MRNA. Selloff hits vaccine makers

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRNA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Moderna in a report on Friday, August 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Argus raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Citigroup lowered Moderna from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Moderna by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 222 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can help prevent or treat disease, supporting the company’s work across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions, and cardiovascular diseases.

Moderna’s commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.