Amundi Reduces Stock Holdings in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its Moderna stake by 1.8% in the second quarter, selling 16,044 shares and retaining 888,779 shares valued at approximately $62.2 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 75.33%, with BlackRock and California State Teachers Retirement System making major investments during the period. Moderna insiders own 10.8%, while two insiders sold shares under pre-arranged plans.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $76.72 target price. Moderna shares opened at $136.62, despite the company reporting a quarterly loss of $1.97 per share and negative net margins.

Amundi lowered its stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 888,779 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,044 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.22% of Moderna worth $62,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at about $2,142,877,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 6,698.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,681,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,938,523,000 after buying an additional 27,274,128 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,299,000. Theleme Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $564,272,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,209,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 74,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. This trade represents 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. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRNA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Moderna from $67.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday, August 28th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.72.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $136.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $91.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.19. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $176.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a PE ratio of -17.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.13) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines and vaccines. Its platform is designed to provide cells with instructions to produce proteins that may help prevent or treat infectious diseases, cancer and other medical conditions.

The company's commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults. Moderna also maintains a pipeline of investigational programs in areas such as seasonal influenza, cytomegalovirus, oncology and rare diseases.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Moderna serves markets in the United States and internationally through regulatory approvals, commercial partnerships and distribution arrangements.

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