Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 72,594 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 60% compared to the typical volume of 45,264 put options.

Moderna Trading Down 2.6 %

MRNA traded down $1.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $68.02. 5,050,378 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,260,412. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $92.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.92 and a current ratio of 4.09. Moderna has a fifty-two week low of $62.55 and a fifty-two week high of $170.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.68.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($3.62) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.52 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRNA. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Moderna from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at $859,486.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at $682,754. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,486.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,158 shares of company stock worth $11,167,312. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,140,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Moderna by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 283,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,714,000 after acquiring an additional 11,828 shares in the last quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,372,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $524,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Moderna by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.