Royal Bank of Canada Downgrades Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) to Sector Perform

Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $90.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $125.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Moderna from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $157.00 price target (down from $214.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Moderna from $143.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $122.79.

Moderna Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA traded down $1.45 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $82.30. The stock had a trading volume of 5,116,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,162,379. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.74 and its 200-day moving average is $114.99. Moderna has a 1 year low of $62.55 and a 1 year high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.09.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 202,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total value of $30,088,098.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,528,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,746,145.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.96, for a total transaction of $30,844.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,486,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $179,808,007.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 202,832 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total value of $30,088,098.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,528,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,746,145.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 396,239 shares of company stock valued at $55,563,937. 15.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 6,528.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 387,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,552,000 after buying an additional 381,808 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its position in Moderna by 477.5% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 483,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,091,000 after buying an additional 399,843 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Moderna during the fourth quarter worth about $1,358,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $664,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.