Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 66,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,950,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 15.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,036,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,159,769,000 after buying an additional 5,129,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Moderna by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,225,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,460 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Moderna by 0.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,648,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,743,000 after buying an additional 18,728 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moderna in the fourth quarter worth about $347,565,000. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,916,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,230,000 after buying an additional 120,621 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,754. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total transaction of $81,467.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,486.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $682,754. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 108,158 shares of company stock worth $13,239,712. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRNA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Moderna from $204.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $163.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.79.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $76.61 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.92, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Moderna, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.55 and a 52 week high of $170.47. The stock has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.89 and a beta of 1.68.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The firm had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.41 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($3.62) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.52 EPS for the current year.

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.