Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Down 8.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell 8.9% on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $108.00 to $96.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Moderna traded as low as $43.24 and last traded at $43.28. 7,908,741 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 9,949,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.53.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Argus downgraded Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 230.4% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Moderna by 365.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Moderna by 53.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Moderna by 477.3% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Down 9.2 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The company has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.42 and a beta of 1.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. Moderna’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.39) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.