Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Climb 4.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Moderna shares rose 4.1% to $226.89 in heavy trading, with volume 52% above the average session level.
• Analyst views remain mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $101.45 average price target, despite several firms recently raising targets or upgrading the shares.
• Moderna beat quarterly expectations with revenue of $145 million and an EPS loss of $1.97, but remains unprofitable; insiders have sold roughly $33.9 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 4.1% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $236.77 and last traded at $226.89. Approximately 18,751,272 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 52% from the average session volume of 12,376,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRNA. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Moderna from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Moderna from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Singular Research raised Moderna to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.45.

Moderna Stock Up 4.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $156.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.18. The company has a market capitalization of $90.58 billion, a PE ratio of -28.40 and a beta of 1.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.13) EPS. Moderna's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $4,685,093.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 74,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,374,353.55. The trade was a 4.47% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,251 shares of company stock valued at $33,875,904. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Merck & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Moderna during the 1st quarter worth approximately $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 1,387.6% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company's stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,013,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company's stock.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can stimulate immune responses or support the treatment of disease. The company's research programs span infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions and other therapeutic areas.

Moderna's commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.

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