UBS Group Lowers Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target to $96.00

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $108.00 to $96.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 122.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Moderna in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Moderna Stock Down 9.2 %

Moderna stock opened at $43.17 on Wednesday. Moderna has a fifty-two week low of $35.80 and a fifty-two week high of $170.47. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.42 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.69.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 112.1% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 30,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 16,243 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth approximately $900,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 66.2% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 12,118.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.