Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Down to $119.22

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $119.22, but opened at $99.58. Moderna shares last traded at $101.02, with a volume of 4,277,256 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MRNA. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $163.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Moderna from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moderna from $143.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $204.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.59.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.02.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.47) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 21.35% and a negative net margin of 116.18%. The firm’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($3.62) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total transaction of $1,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,792,839.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total value of $1,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,224,015 shares in the company, valued at $266,792,839.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.96, for a total value of $30,844.80. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,486,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,808,007.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 396,239 shares of company stock valued at $55,563,937. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV bought a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Moderna by 4,833.3% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 296 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.