Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $7.03 Million Stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 9.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 59,231 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,309 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $7,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $4,159,769,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 28.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,648,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,743,000 after purchasing an additional 18,728 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at $347,565,000. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,916,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,230,000 after purchasing an additional 120,621 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $79.51 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.15. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.55 and a 52-week high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.07 and a beta of 1.68.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.47) by $0.14. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 21.35% and a negative net margin of 116.18%. The business 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 business earned ($3.62) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRNA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Moderna from $204.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moderna from $163.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $125.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $859,486.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at $682,754. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at $859,486.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,158 shares of company stock worth $13,239,712. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.