Capital World Investors Makes New Investment in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• Capital World Investors disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Moderna, buying 12.8 million shares valued at about $378.3 million and ending with roughly 3.28% ownership of the company.
• Moderna reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the quarter, with EPS of -$3.40 versus estimates of -$3.02, while revenue of $389 million came in well above forecasts and jumped 260.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautious on the stock: the consensus rating is “Reduce” with an average price target of $36.60, even as some firms recently raised their targets.

Capital World Investors bought a new position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,828,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $378,299,000. Capital World Investors owned about 3.28% of Moderna at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,707,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 15.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company's stock worth $212,223,000 after buying an additional 1,115,131 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,192,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Moderna by 84.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,779,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,091,000 after purchasing an additional 813,974 shares during the period. Finally, Theleme Partners LLP grew its holdings in Moderna by 8.6% during the second quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 7,868,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,100,000 after purchasing an additional 626,420 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Stock Up 0.3%

Moderna stock opened at $47.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a PE ratio of -5.84 and a beta of 1.05. Moderna, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $59.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.71 and a 200-day moving average of $43.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.52) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRNA. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total transaction of $2,581,462.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 1,477,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,535,054.80. This represents a 3.48% 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. Insiders have sold 71,752 shares of company stock worth $3,453,843 over the last ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Moderna

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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