South Dakota Investment Council Trims Holdings in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• South Dakota Investment Council cut its Moderna stake by 41.1% in the first quarter, selling 69,478 shares and retaining 99,552 shares valued at approximately $5.1 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 75.33%, while other major investors—including Capital World Investors, Norges Bank and Dimensional Fund Advisors—initiated or increased positions in Moderna.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious, with an average “Reduce” rating and a $40 price target. Moderna reported a quarterly loss of $3.40 per share despite revenue rising 260.2% year over year to $389 million.

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 41.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,552 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,478 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Moderna were worth $5,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at $378,299,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Moderna during the 4th quarter worth $95,209,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth about $79,707,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company's stock worth $212,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,788,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,775,000 after purchasing an additional 987,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Moderna from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Moderna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $40.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of Moderna 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $183,800.16. The trade was a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 119,406 shares of company stock worth $5,928,762 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moderna Stock Up 6.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $57.92 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.41. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.28 and a 1-year high of $85.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.11 and a beta of 0.94.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.52) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.41 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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