CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management increased its Moderna stake by 62.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 78,157 shares valued at about $2.3 million.
• Institutional interest in Moderna remains active, with several hedge funds recently adding or initiating positions; overall, 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts remain cautious on MRNA: the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” with an average price target of $35.73, even after some firms raised targets and one reiterated an overweight rating.

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 62.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,157 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,938 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Moderna were worth $2,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $415,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 732.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 10,185 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 58.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 23,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 8,706 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 48,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRNA. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 price target on Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $35.73.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $47.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $59.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.31.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. Moderna's revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.52) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total value of $2,581,462.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 1,477,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,535,054.80. The trade was a 3.48% 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. 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 on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $433,878.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $183,800.16. This represents a 70.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 68,281 shares of company stock valued at $3,280,293 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

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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