Moderna, Inc. $MRNA Stock: V Square Quantitative Management LLC Cuts Stake

V Square Quantitative Management LLC reduced its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 56.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,655 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Moderna were worth $554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Moderna in the first quarter worth $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $1,013,000. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Down 7.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $218.01 on Friday. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.28 and a 52-week high of $242.29. The stock has a market cap of $87.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.29 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $156.66 and its 200 day moving average is $90.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.13) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total transaction of $5,807,574.22. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,525,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,921,913.54. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $4,685,093.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Moderna News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRNA. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $45.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Bradesco Corretora raised shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Moderna from $77.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

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 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.