Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading 8.2% Higher – Should You Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price shot up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.50 and last traded at $45.05. 8,832,196 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 12,567,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.26.

Moderna Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a PE ratio of -7.05 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.03.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.39) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Moderna by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 140.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Moderna by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 16,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Moderna by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 258,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,743,000 after buying an additional 142,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.