Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Given “Sector Perform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 6.47% from the company’s previous close.

MRNA has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $157.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $120.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.44.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.44. 261,637 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,233,954. The business’s 50 day moving average is $92.28 and its 200-day moving average is $111.27. The company has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.68. 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 has a 1-year low of $62.55 and a 1-year high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.47) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 21.35% and a negative net margin of 116.18%. Moderna’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($3.62) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.22, for a total value of $1,908,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,284,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,572,388.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.22, for a total value of $1,908,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,284,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $290,572,388.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,754. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,158 shares of company stock valued at $11,167,312. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,907,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,372,058,000 after buying an additional 6,248,623 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 buying an additional 1,614,460 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 42.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,545,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,724,000 after buying an additional 463,960 shares during the period. Matrix Capital Management Company LP bought a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,150,000. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 156.9% in the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 741,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,044,000 after purchasing an additional 453,004 shares during the period. 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.