Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,142,877,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at $378,299,000. Theleme Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $564,272,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at $95,209,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at $79,707,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of MRNA opened at $145.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company has a market cap of $58.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.22 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.45. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.28 and a 52-week high of $176.66.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.13) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 74,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRNA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Moderna in a report on Friday, August 28th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Citigroup increased their target price 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. UBS Group set a $81.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.72.

Key Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that the Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial of intismeran autogene plus Keytruda met its primary recurrence-free-survival endpoint in resected stage IIB–IV melanoma. It was the first positive Phase 3 result for an mRNA-based cancer therapy and strengthens Moderna’s long-term oncology outlook, although detailed data have not yet been released. Moderna melanoma trial article
• Positive Sentiment: Technical analysts describe the recent consolidation as a potential bullish pennant following the cancer-vaccine-driven breakout. Elevated short interest could provide additional buying pressure if the shares break above resistance. Moderna technical forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Legal Officer Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares for approximately $486,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards. Because the transaction was planned and tax-related, it provides limited insight into management’s view of Moderna’s valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co. Redburn downgraded Moderna from Neutral to Sell, saying the cancer-vaccine rally has made the stock overvalued. The firm raised its price target to $81 from $40, but the new target remains well below recent trading levels, intensifying profit-taking concerns. Rothschild Moderna downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: GSK is advancing an mRNA influenza vaccine toward Phase 3 after reporting stronger immune responses in Phase 2. The competing program could challenge Moderna’s newly approved mFlusiva and increase pressure on its commercial vaccine pipeline. GSK mRNA flu vaccine competition

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.