Moderna, Inc. $MRNA Shares Purchased by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada increased its Moderna stake by 2,042.6% in the third quarter, acquiring 69,203 additional shares for a total holding of 72,591 shares valued at $13.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.33% of MRNA.
• Moderna shares opened at $218.01, well above their 50-day moving average of $156.66 and near the 12-month high of $242.29. The company remains unprofitable, with analysts expecting a full-year loss of $6.11 per share.
• Investor focus is on upcoming melanoma and other cancer-vaccine data, while ongoing losses, sector-wide vaccine-stock weakness and valuation concerns pose risks. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $101.45.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 2,042.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,591 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,203 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Moderna were worth $13,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the first quarter valued at approximately $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 1,387.6% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 22,590 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $1,013,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $218.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $242.29. The company has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.29 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Moderna News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming melanoma and other cancer-vaccine data remain the main bullish catalyst. Earlier positive results from Moderna’s personalized cancer-vaccine collaboration with Merck have increased expectations that new data could support the pipeline and help sustain the stock’s gains. Merck and Moderna cancer vaccine strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest has also been supported by strong momentum, healthcare-sector fund flows and optimism that Moderna’s pipeline could diversify the business beyond COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna rallies as money rotates into healthcare
• Neutral Sentiment: President Stephen Hoge sold a combined 78,369 shares in transactions conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although the sales may weigh on sentiment, they represented only a small portion of his remaining holdings and were not discretionary trades made during the current move. Moderna insider trading filing
• Neutral Sentiment: A study comparing the stability of three mRNA vaccines in human blood may provide useful scientific context for the platform, but it does not appear to offer an immediate change to Moderna’s revenue outlook or valuation. mRNA vaccine stability study
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking has intensified after Moderna became one of the market’s strongest performers, with analysts cautioning that the stock’s valuation now depends heavily on successful pipeline execution. Goldman Sachs raised its target to $137 but retained a Neutral rating, leaving the target substantially below recent trading levels. Moderna valuation debate
• Negative Sentiment: The broader selloff in vaccine stocks, including declines in Novavax and BioNTech, has added sector-wide pressure. Investors are also wary of Moderna’s continuing losses and negative cash flow while awaiting the cancer-data catalyst. Vaccine-stock selloff

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total transaction of $8,640,084.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 1,636,565 shares in the company, valued at $361,222,626.80. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. 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. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRNA. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Moderna to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Argus raised shares of Moderna from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Moderna from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.45.

Moderna Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can stimulate immune responses or support the treatment of disease. The company's research programs span infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions and other therapeutic areas.

Moderna's commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.