Investors Buy Large Volume of Moderna Call Options (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Key Points

• Investors acquired 102,888 call options on Moderna on Thursday, a 55% increase over typical daily call volume, indicating elevated bullish positioning.
• Moderna missed EPS expectations with a loss of -$3.40 (vs. -$3.02 expected) but reported a revenue beat of $389M, up 260% year‑over‑year.
• Peer‑reviewed Phase 3 results for the flu candidate mRNA‑1010 in the New England Journal of Medicine showed it outperformed a standard‑dose vaccine in adults 50+, supporting potential regulatory approvals and multi‑year revenue upside beginning in 2026.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 102,888 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 66,531 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRNA. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 price objective on Moderna and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $35.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $562,637.58. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 160,009 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.84, for a total transaction of $7,814,839.56. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 1,457,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,180,734.68. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

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

Moderna Stock Up 0.1%

MRNA stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $48.84. 5,280,667 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,542,992. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.76. 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 has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $59.55. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.99 and a beta of 1.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The business had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.52) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Peer‑reviewed Phase 3 results published in the New England Journal of Medicine show mRNA‑1010 outperformed a licensed standard‑dose flu vaccine in adults 50+, strengthening Moderna’s vaccine pipeline and supporting potential future sales if approvals follow. Moderna Announces New England Journal of Medicine Publication of Pivotal Phase 3 Clinical Safety and Efficacy Data for Its Investigational Seasonal Influenza Vaccine, mRNA-1010
• Positive Sentiment: Late‑stage trial coverage from major outlets highlights the efficacy result and raises confidence in the vaccine’s market potential, which could drive multi‑year revenue upside if regulators approve and uptake is strong. Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine outperforms standard shot in late-stage trial
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory submissions are under review in multiple regions with potential approvals expected to begin in 2026 — a positive path but still subject to timing and labeling decisions that determine near‑term revenue realization. Moderna Announces New England Journal of Medicine Publication of Pivotal Phase 3 Clinical Safety and Efficacy Data for Its Investigational Seasonal Influenza Vaccine, mRNA-1010
• Positive Sentiment: Broker upgrade/estimate move: Brookline Capital Markets raised its FY2026 EPS loss forecast (less negative), narrowing differences with consensus and reflecting updated expectations around product rollout or margins. This is a modest near‑term positive for sentiment. Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) MarketBeat Report
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the favorable data and coverage, the stock gave back early gains — likely due to profit‑taking, investors waiting for regulatory clarity and near‑term revenue visibility, and lighter trading volume versus the average. That intra‑day retracement is pressuring the share price today. Moderna Stock Gives Back Early Gains: What's Happening?

About Moderna

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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