Moderna Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 105,794 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 67% compared to the average volume of 63,504 put options.

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA opened at $41.83 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a PE ratio of -7.19 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.02. Moderna has a 52-week low of $35.80 and a 52-week high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.39) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Moderna from $140.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at $571,440.60. The trade was a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,379 shares of company stock worth $158,195 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 7.1% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 8.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Moderna by 9.6% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 34,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993 shares during the period. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $299,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 13.0% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 7,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by 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.