Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $1.73 Million Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 24,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,732,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,142,877,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth about $378,299,000. Theleme Partners LLP purchased a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at about $564,272,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,209,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at $79,707,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRNA. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $67.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wolfe Research raised Moderna from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bradesco Corretora upgraded Moderna to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.53.

Moderna Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of Moderna stock opened at $137.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91. Moderna, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $176.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $77.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.73.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%.The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.13) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda, met the goals of a Phase 3 study involving 1,137 patients. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and distant spread versus Keytruda alone, strengthening the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and the commercial potential of the partnership. Reuters cancer vaccine breakthrough article
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved Moderna’s updated 2026–2027 Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the XFG subvariant. The approval preserves access to the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine market, though future demand remains an important uncertainty. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded Moderna from “Hold” to “Buy” and assigned a $180 price target, indicating additional potential upside based on the company’s oncology opportunity and recent clinical progress. Argus upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer advised a viewer to hold Moderna after the stock’s sharp rally, reflecting continued optimism about the Phase 3 cancer-vaccine result but also caution following the run-up. Jim Cramer Moderna commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna priced an upsized $2.6 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032, increased from the initially proposed $2.0 billion. Proceeds may fund oncology investments and debt repayment, but the larger financing raised concerns about future share dilution and explains much of the selling pressure. Moderna convertible notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s decision to halt a mid-stage personalized mRNA colorectal-cancer vaccine trial after a review weakened sentiment across the mRNA oncology sector, raising broader questions about the difficulty of translating promising technology into successful cancer treatments. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 own 10.80% of the company's stock.

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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