QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management opened a new position in Moderna during the first quarter, buying 13,666 shares worth about $694,000.
• Wall Street sentiment on Moderna remains cautious: analysts’ average rating is “Reduce” with a consensus price target of $38.27, even as several firms recently lifted their targets.
• Moderna reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss, posting -$3.40 EPS versus estimates of -$3.02, though revenue came in well above forecasts at $389 million.

QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 148.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRNA. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moderna from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $38.27.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $433,878.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $183,800.16. This represents a 70.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the 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 owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $76.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.39 and a beta of 0.94. 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 one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $85.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.75 and a 200 day moving average of $49.53.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the company posted ($2.52) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 EPS for the current year.

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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