Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Moderna's share price gapped down to $25.82 after Citigroup lowered its price target from $30.00 to $28.00, indicating a neutral rating on the stock.
• Institutional investors hold 75.33% of Moderna's stock, with recent activity including significant increases in positions by several firms.
• Moderna's latest earnings report showed a loss of ($2.13) per share, surpassing expectations, but the company's revenue decreased by 41.1% year-over-year.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $28.00. The stock had previously closed at $26.85, but opened at $25.82. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Moderna shares last traded at $25.80, with a volume of 1,587,931 shares changing hands.

MRNA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moderna from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $32.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 94.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 348.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 956 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Trading Down 2.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 2.01. The firm's fifty day moving average is $25.98 and its 200-day moving average is $27.11.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.99) by $0.86. Moderna had a negative net margin of 94.31% and a negative return on equity of 25.96%. The company had revenue of $142.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($3.33) earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moderna has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 EPS for the current year.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.

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