Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Decreases Position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Moderna were worth $1,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Moderna by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 186,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,247,000 after purchasing an additional 31,423 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 88.3% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 2,880 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 3.2% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 68,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 4.6% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 65,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,792,000 after buying an additional 2,885 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 18.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 409,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,289,000 after acquiring an additional 64,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRNA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Moderna from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moderna from $142.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Moderna from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.89.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $121.71. 709,486 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,089,359. The firm has a market cap of $46.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.73 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.05. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Moderna, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.55 and a twelve month high of $142.79.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative net margin of 115.82% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $167.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 91.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $63,361.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,235.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $63,361.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,235.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.92, for a total transaction of $1,663,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,026,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,827,186.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,954 shares of company stock valued at $14,822,576 over the last quarter. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.