Merck & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• Merck & Co. acquired 2.31 million Moderna shares in the second quarter, representing about 0.58% of Moderna and making it Merck’s second-largest holding at 30.7% of its portfolio.
• Moderna reported a second-quarter loss of $1.97 per share, slightly better than estimates, while revenue of $145 million exceeded expectations and rose 2.1% year over year. The company remains unprofitable, with analysts forecasting a full-year loss of $6.20 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Moderna has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $42.13, below its reported share price of $64.46. Company insiders also sold 66,070 shares worth approximately $3.35 million over the past 90 days.

Merck & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,308,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $161,642,545,000. Moderna makes up 30.7% of Merck & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Merck & Co. Inc. owned about 0.58% of Moderna as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 148.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $64.46 on Tuesday. Moderna, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.28 and a 1 year high of $85.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.82. 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 company has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.07 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company'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 transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $183,800.16. This represents a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 66,070 shares of company stock worth $3,347,299 in the last 90 days. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRNA. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $49.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Moderna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $42.13.

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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