Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Up 6.6% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Moderna's stock price rose by 6.6% during trading, closing at $28.46, despite a significant drop in trading volume compared to average levels.
• Institutional investors hold 75.33% of Moderna's stock, with several increasing their positions significantly in the second quarter.
• JPMorgan and UBS have set varying price targets for Moderna's stock, indicating a mixed outlook among analysts, with a current consensus rating of "Hold".

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) shot up 6.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $28.54 and last traded at $28.46. 5,036,272 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 10,767,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $26.00 price objective on Moderna in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Moderna from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Moderna from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.59.

Moderna Trading Up 5.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.73 and a beta of 1.83. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $29.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.62.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.99) by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $142.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $116.26 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 94.31% and a negative return on equity of 25.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($3.33) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $94,910,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 364.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,869,271 shares of the company's stock worth $79,163,000 after acquiring an additional 2,251,497 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 335.6% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,590,831 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,996,003 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 19.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,877,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,458,000 after buying an additional 1,420,690 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,708,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,150,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312,192 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Company Profile

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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