Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Purchases 7,539 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management acquired 7,539 Moderna shares worth approximately $1.45 million in the third quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 75.33% of Moderna.
• Moderna and Merck’s Phase 3 melanoma vaccine trial reduced recurrence or death risk by 42% versus Keytruda alone, potentially supporting a major future revenue opportunity. However, the benefit was below earlier results, and commercial execution remains a concern.
• Moderna shares opened at $198.85, while analysts maintained a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $107.10. The company remains unprofitable amid declining COVID-19 revenue and ongoing pipeline commercialization efforts.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at about $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the first quarter valued at about $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth about $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 1,387.6% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company's stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 22,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 2,042.6% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72,591 shares of the company's stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 69,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Moderna News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial met its primary endpoint. Adding intismeran to Merck’s Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% versus Keytruda alone; the combination also reduced distant metastasis or death by 38%. The vaccine’s delayed improvement after six months could support the case for a durable immune response. Merck and Moderna’s Cancer Vaccine Worked—Who Gets Paid?
• Positive Sentiment: The melanoma program could become a major revenue source for Moderna if approved. Analysts cited in the coverage estimate peak annual melanoma sales of approximately $5.4 billion, with Moderna and Merck sharing development costs and profits equally. Regulatory filing timing and manufacturing plans are now key catalysts. Moderna and Merck’s Promising Skin Cancer Vaccine
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Moderna’s next earnings report for updates on losses, declining COVID revenue, product launches and the broader pipeline. The company remains unprofitable, making progress toward commercializing newer products especially important. What to Expect From Moderna’s Next Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: The Phase 3 benefit was below the roughly 49% recurrence reduction from the earlier study and below what investors had priced in. The resulting selloff suggests the stock’s valuation—largely based on future cancer-vaccine revenue—left little room for disappointment. Commercial execution is also unproven because each vaccine is individually manufactured for a patient. Moderna’s Rally May Have Run Out of Steam

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $198.85 on Tuesday. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $254.48. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $173.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.87. 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 quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.13) EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 34,836 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total transaction of $485,766.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 74,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,374,353.55. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Singular Research raised Moderna to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Moderna from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $230.00 target price (up from $167.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.10.

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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