Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) President Stephen Hoge Sells 39,224 Shares of Company Stock

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) President Stephen Hoge sold 39,224 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.48, for a total transaction of $8,373,539.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 1,599,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $341,409,597.84. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Thursday, October 15th, Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares of Moderna stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total value of $8,640,084.40.
• On Monday, September 14th, Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of Moderna stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total value 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 Stock Down 7.8%

Shares of Moderna stock traded down $18.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $218.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,365,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,294,008. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.28 and a 1-year high of $242.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.88.

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

Trending Headlines about Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming melanoma and other cancer-vaccine data remain the main bullish catalyst. Earlier positive results from Moderna’s personalized cancer-vaccine collaboration with Merck have increased expectations that new data could support the pipeline and help sustain the stock’s gains. Merck and Moderna cancer vaccine strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest has also been supported by strong momentum, healthcare-sector fund flows and optimism that Moderna’s pipeline could diversify the business beyond COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna rallies as money rotates into healthcare
• Neutral Sentiment: President Stephen Hoge sold a combined 78,369 shares in transactions conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although the sales may weigh on sentiment, they represented only a small portion of his remaining holdings and were not discretionary trades made during the current move. Moderna insider trading filing
• Neutral Sentiment: A study comparing the stability of three mRNA vaccines in human blood may provide useful scientific context for the platform, but it does not appear to offer an immediate change to Moderna’s revenue outlook or valuation. mRNA vaccine stability study
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking has intensified after Moderna became one of the market’s strongest performers, with analysts cautioning that the stock’s valuation now depends heavily on successful pipeline execution. Goldman Sachs raised its target to $137 but retained a Neutral rating, leaving the target substantially below recent trading levels. Moderna valuation debate
• Negative Sentiment: The broader selloff in vaccine stocks, including declines in Novavax and BioNTech, has added sector-wide pressure. Investors are also wary of Moderna’s continuing losses and negative cash flow while awaiting the cancer-data catalyst. Vaccine-stock selloff

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the topic of several analyst reports. CLSA upgraded shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Moderna from $45.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday, August 28th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth about $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moderna by 1,387.6% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,013,000. Institutional investors 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.