4,620 Shares in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA Purchased by St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management acquired 4,620 Moderna shares worth approximately $890,000 in the third quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company.
• Moderna shares fell 7.8% to $218.01, despite quarterly revenue of $145 million exceeding estimates and a smaller-than-expected loss. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $101.45.
• Insiders sold 197,251 shares worth about $33.9 million over the past three months, including sales by President Stephen Hoge under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Investors are focused on upcoming cancer-vaccine data as a key catalyst, while ongoing losses and valuation concerns remain risks.

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 2,042.6% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72,591 shares of the company's stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 69,203 shares in the last quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the third quarter valued at about $169,000. NFSG Corp grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 2,581.0% in the third quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 5,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 5,162 shares in the last quarter. R2 Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the third quarter valued at about $347,000. Finally, Cohen Klingenstein LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 3rd quarter valued at about $404,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,525,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,921,913.54. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,374,353.55. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Moderna Stock Down 7.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA traded down $18.49 during 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.29. Moderna, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.28 and a fifty-two week high of $242.29. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $156.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.88. The company has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a PE ratio of -27.29 and a beta of 1.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Moderna's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MRNA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday, August 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Singular Research raised shares of Moderna to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.45.

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

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.

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