United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Key Points

• United Capital Financial Advisors acquired 13,077 Moderna shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $916,000. Institutional investors collectively own 75.33% of the company.
• Moderna insiders sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, including President Stephen Hoge’s sale of 53,336 shares for roughly $2.74 million. Insiders retain 10.80% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $80.53, despite recent upgrades and higher targets from some firms.

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Moderna during the first quarter worth about $899,000. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $161,642,545. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 1,387.6% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 22,590 shares during the period. Finally, Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 498,693 shares of the company's stock worth $14,706,000 after acquiring an additional 125,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. The trade was a 4.89% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Moderna from $41.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus upgraded 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. Brookline Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.53.

More Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda, met the goals of a Phase 3 study involving 1,137 patients. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and distant spread versus Keytruda alone, strengthening the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and the commercial potential of the partnership. Reuters cancer vaccine breakthrough article
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved Moderna’s updated 2026–2027 Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the XFG subvariant. The approval preserves access to the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine market, though future demand remains an important uncertainty. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded Moderna from “Hold” to “Buy” and assigned a $180 price target, indicating additional potential upside based on the company’s oncology opportunity and recent clinical progress. Argus upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer advised a viewer to hold Moderna after the stock’s sharp rally, reflecting continued optimism about the Phase 3 cancer-vaccine result but also caution following the run-up. Jim Cramer Moderna commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna priced an upsized $2.6 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032, increased from the initially proposed $2.0 billion. Proceeds may fund oncology investments and debt repayment, but the larger financing raised concerns about future share dilution and explains much of the selling pressure. Moderna convertible notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s decision to halt a mid-stage personalized mRNA colorectal-cancer vaccine trial after a review weakened sentiment across the mRNA oncology sector, raising broader questions about the difficulty of translating promising technology into successful cancer treatments. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA stock opened at $137.99 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $77.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a PE ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $176.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.13) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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