Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Down 8.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) traded down 8.9% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $108.00 to $96.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Moderna traded as low as $43.24 and last traded at $43.28. 7,908,741 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 9,949,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.53.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moderna by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 773,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,175,000 after acquiring an additional 298,715 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Moderna by 4.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 379,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,359,000 after purchasing an additional 15,218 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in Moderna by 73.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 16,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in Moderna by 1.4% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 287,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,239,000 after buying an additional 3,978 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Trading Down 9.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. The company has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.42 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.88.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.39) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.3 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.