Moderna, Inc. $MRNA Stock: China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake

Key Points

• China Universal Asset Management increased its Moderna stake by 15.4% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 72,845 shares valued at approximately $14.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.33% of Moderna.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $107.10; ratings range from Buy to Sell.
• Moderna insiders sold 197,251 shares worth approximately $33.9 million over the past three months, while the company’s latest quarterly results beat estimates on both earnings and revenue.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,845 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,696 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Moderna were worth $14,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,142,877,000. Theleme Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $564,272,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 4.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,461,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,384,000 after acquiring an additional 103,977 shares in the last quarter. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $161,642,545. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter worth $139,317,000. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, August 28th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. William Blair cut shares of Moderna from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Moderna from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Moderna from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $4,685,093.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was 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 $10,374,353.55. This trade represents a 4.47% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 197,251 shares of company stock worth $33,875,904 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moderna Trading Up 4.0%

MRNA opened at $222.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $88.93 billion, a PE ratio of -27.88 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $180.72 and a 200-day moving average of $85.58. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $254.48.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine candidate recently produced positive clinical-trial data, renewing investor optimism about a potentially significant oncology business. The upcoming Nov. 6 event or update could provide another near-term catalyst. Will Moderna Soar on Nov. 6?
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Stéphane Bancel defended the melanoma-vaccine results, saying the data should improve over time and that Moderna’s technology may be difficult for competitors to replicate. He also expressed confidence that the platform could work in cancers beyond melanoma. Moderna CEO Cancer Vaccine Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Moderna’s ESMO presentation highlighted the science behind its oncology pipeline, but investors now want evidence that the program can translate into commercial revenue and improve the company’s financial outlook. Moderna ESMO Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy investor searches for Moderna indicate elevated market interest, but the coverage does not identify a new fundamental development by itself. Investors Heavily Search Moderna
• Negative Sentiment: William Blair lowered Moderna to Market Perform from Outperform, citing valuation concerns after the stock’s strong oncology-driven advance. The downgrade suggests much of the cancer-vaccine optimism may already be reflected in the shares. William Blair Downgrades Moderna
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst lowered the FY2028 EPS estimate, reinforcing concerns about Moderna’s path to profitability and the premium valuation investors are assigning to its future pipeline. Comparisons with GSK emphasize that Moderna offers greater oncology upside but less income and currently higher execution risk. GSK vs. Moderna Growth Comparison

Moderna Company 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.

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