Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,702,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,707,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.69% of Moderna as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moderna during the first quarter worth approximately $415,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 732.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,575 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 10,185 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Moderna during the first quarter worth approximately $230,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Moderna by 58.7% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 23,547 shares of the company's stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 8,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 5.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 48,859 shares of the company's stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at $183,800.16. This trade represents a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owned 1,477,997 shares in the company, valued at $71,535,054.80. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 68,281 shares of company stock worth $3,280,293 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $47.44 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Moderna, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.28 and a 1 year high of $59.55.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $236.37 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.52) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRNA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $35.73.

Moderna Company 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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