Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target on Moderna from $32 to $34, while keeping an underperform rating. The new target still implies roughly 30% downside from the stock’s current price.
• Other analysts remain cautious overall: Moderna’s consensus rating is “Reduce” with an average target price of $36.60. Recent calls ranged from a $33 target at Morgan Stanley to $69 at Piper Sandler.
• Moderna’s latest quarterly results were mixed, with revenue beating expectations at $389 million but EPS missing estimates at -$3.40. The company also saw notable insider selling, including transactions by its director and president.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Bank of America from $32.00 to $34.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underperform" rating on the stock. Bank of America's price objective suggests a potential downside of 29.92% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MRNA. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 target price on Moderna and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 target price on Moderna in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $36.60.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $48.52. 1,329,447 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,158,778. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $49.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.31. Moderna has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $59.55. The firm has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.97 and a beta of 1.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The company had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $236.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.52) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 12,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $562,637.58. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total transaction of $2,581,462.40. Following the sale, the president owned 1,477,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,535,054.80. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,281 shares of company stock worth $3,280,293. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lingotto Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 498,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,706,000 after acquiring an additional 125,598 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,291,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,085,000 after acquiring an additional 163,031 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 215,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,577,000 after acquiring an additional 39,056 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at about $907,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 1,445.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 140,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,142,000 after acquiring an additional 131,364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company's stock.

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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