North Dakota State Investment Board Sells 27,663 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board cut its Moderna stake by 64.1% in the third quarter, selling 27,663 shares and retaining 15,489 shares valued at approximately $2.98 million.
• Moderna shares opened at $222.76, near the upper end of their 12-month range, while the company remains unprofitable. Analysts maintain an overall “Hold” rating with an average price target of $107.10.
• Investor optimism is being driven by Moderna’s personalized cancer-vaccine program, though analysts have raised concerns that the stock’s oncology gains may already be priced in and that profitability remains uncertain.

North Dakota State Investment Board trimmed its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 64.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,489 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,663 shares during the quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board's holdings in Moderna were worth $2,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MRNA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,142,877,000. Theleme Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $564,272,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $172,384,000 after acquiring an additional 103,977 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Moderna by 59.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,392,693 shares of the company's stock worth $121,549,000 after acquiring an additional 891,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $161,642,545. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $222.76 on Friday. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $254.48. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $180.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.58. The firm 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.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.13) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Moderna News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Singular Research upgraded shares of Moderna to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Argus raised shares of Moderna from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Bradesco Corretora upgraded Moderna to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total transaction of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares in the company, valued at $10,374,353.55. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $4,685,093.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,985,343.75. The trade was a 36.98% 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 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Moderna

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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