Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Key Points

• Moderna saw a substantial increase in options trading, with investors purchasing 122,063 call options, a 38% rise compared to its average daily volume.
• Institutional investors showed increased interest in Moderna, with firms like Vanguard and Geode Capital Management boosting their holdings significantly during the 2nd quarter.
• Despite a 4.2% decline in stock price to $26.01, analysts have mixed forecasts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $39.93.

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 122,063 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 88,713 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,708,705 shares of the company's stock worth $1,150,743,000 after buying an additional 1,312,192 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moderna by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,877,280 shares of the company's stock worth $244,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,690 shares during the period. Theleme Partners LLP grew its holdings in Moderna by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 7,868,810 shares of the company's stock worth $217,100,000 after acquiring an additional 626,420 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Moderna by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,101,032 shares of the company's stock worth $195,917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Moderna by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,597,236 shares of the company's stock worth $101,982,000 after acquiring an additional 11,270 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Moderna from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moderna from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, August 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $32.00 price objective on Moderna in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.93.

Moderna Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of MRNA traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.01. 4,295,722 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,789,260. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $25.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.10. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 2.01. Moderna has a 52 week low of $23.15 and a 52 week high of $57.69.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 revenue was down 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($3.33) earnings per share. Moderna has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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