Moderna, Inc. $MRNA Stock Position Boosted by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,053 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,698 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moderna were worth $5,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Merck & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Moderna in the 1st quarter worth approximately $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moderna by 1,387.6% in the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 22,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 2,042.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after acquiring an additional 69,203 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $200.10 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $172.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.04 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.18. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.28 and a 1-year high of $254.48.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted 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. 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%. Moderna’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.13) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total value of $8,640,084.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,636,565 shares in the company, valued at $361,222,626.80. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total transaction of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. The trade was a 4.47% 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 sold a total of 197,251 shares of company stock worth $33,875,904 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Moderna in a research note on Friday, August 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Moderna from $77.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Singular Research upgraded Moderna to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moderna from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.95.

Key Stories Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported positive Phase 3 INTerpath-001 results for the personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, intismeran autogene, used with Keytruda. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42%, while also improving distant metastasis-free survival. Oncologists described the findings as a major advance in melanoma care. Nature article
• Positive Sentiment: The results strengthen the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and could support a major future revenue stream beyond COVID-19 vaccines, particularly if additional trials demonstrate benefits in other cancers. Moderna has also advanced its mRNA bird-flu vaccine into a late-stage trial, adding another potential pipeline catalyst. Bird flu vaccine trial article
• Neutral Sentiment: Moderna’s recent addition to the Nasdaq-100 and analyst support provide structural and sentiment benefits, but these factors have less immediate influence than the cancer-vaccine readout. The stock had already posted an exceptionally strong rally, leaving the valuation highly sensitive to new clinical information. Nasdaq-100 inclusion article
• Negative Sentiment: Partial trial data appeared on social media ahead of Moderna and Merck’s planned ESMO presentation, triggering extreme volatility and a sharp selloff. The premature release disrupted the expected news event and encouraged a “sell-the-news” reaction. CNBC data leak article
• Negative Sentiment: Although clinically meaningful, the 42% reduction fell short of the market’s very high expectations after Moderna’s dramatic run-up. Investors also questioned whether the results will translate beyond melanoma, how quickly the product could reach the market, and its eventual commercial opportunity. The breach of near-term technical support and heightened trading swings add further pressure. Zacks analysis

Moderna Profile

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 stimulate immune responses or support the treatment of disease. The company’s research programs span infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions and other therapeutic areas.

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.