Bank of America Corp DE Sells 388,494 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its Moderna stake by 28.3%, selling 388,494 shares during the first quarter and retaining 986,360 shares valued at approximately $50.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Moderna has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $42.13, despite some firms maintaining “overweight” or “buy” recommendations.
• Moderna insiders sold 119,406 shares worth about $5.9 million over the past three months. Separately, the company reported a quarterly loss of $1.97 per share, slightly better than estimates, with revenue of $145 million.

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 986,360 shares of the company's stock after selling 388,494 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.25% of Moderna worth $50,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 148.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 35.1% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRNA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $49.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $42.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $433,878.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at $183,800.16. This trade represents a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 119,406 shares of company stock valued at $5,928,762 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moderna Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $60.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.58 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $60.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.39. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.28 and a 52-week high of $85.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moderna 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.

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