Moderna Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Key Points

• Moderna experienced a significant surge in call option trading, with 140,207 options traded, representing a 57% increase over its average daily volume of 89,587.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Moderna, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.81, while Bank of America has lowered its target from $26.00 to $25.00.
• Large institutional investors have increased their stakes in Moderna, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Corient Private Wealth LLC and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans during the second quarter.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 140,207 call options on the company. This is an increase of 57% compared to the average daily volume of 89,587 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, August 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Moderna from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.81.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA traded up $2.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $27.83. The stock had a trading volume of 13,645,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,933,447. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.49. Moderna has a one year low of $23.15 and a one year high of $63.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.69 and a beta of 1.93.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $142.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($3.33) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moderna has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 155.8% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 56,400 shares of the company's stock worth $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 34,354 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 46,709 shares of the company's stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 600.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 92,999 shares of the company's stock worth $2,566,000 after acquiring an additional 79,726 shares during the last quarter. Marex Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth $359,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth $94,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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