Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Moderna has received a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce" from 18 research firms, with five sell ratings, 11 hold ratings, and two buy ratings. The average 1-year price target is $36.60.
• Recent insider activity has been negative, with directors Noubar Afeyan and Abbas Hussain both selling shares. Insiders sold 71,752 shares in the last quarter, though they still own 10.80% of the company.
• Moderna reported a recent quarterly EPS loss of $3.40, missing expectations, even as revenue jumped 260.2% year over year to $389 million. The company also said analysts expect it to post -6.51 EPS for the current year.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.60.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Evercore set a $35.00 price objective on Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price objective on Moderna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $433,878.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at $183,800.16. This represents a 70.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $562,637.58. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,752 shares of company stock valued at $3,453,843. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Moderna by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in Moderna by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,700 shares of the company's stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 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 during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Moderna by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,785 shares of the company's stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $52.13 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Moderna has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $59.55.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The company's revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($2.52) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -6.51 earnings per share for the current 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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