Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 49,596 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group cut its Moderna stake by 52.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 49,596 shares and leaving it with 45,670 shares worth about $1.35 million.
• Insider selling has also been notable: director Abbas Hussain and president Stephen Hoge both sold shares, and insiders have sold 68,281 shares worth about $3.28 million over the last three months.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $35.73, even though some analysts recently raised targets or kept bullish ratings.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,670 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,596 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Moderna were worth $1,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 3,775.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $562,637.58. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $71,535,054.80. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 68,281 shares of company stock valued at $3,280,293 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 target price on shares of Moderna and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $35.73.

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA stock opened at $47.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.84 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 12-month low of $22.28 and a 12-month high of $59.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.36.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The firm had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.52) EPS. Moderna's quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.49 earnings per share for the current 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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