Traders Purchase High Volume of Moderna Put Options (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 127,231 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 86% compared to the average volume of 68,321 put options.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $40.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. Moderna has a fifty-two week low of $35.80 and a fifty-two week high of $170.47. The firm has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.90 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $571,440.60. The trade was a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,379 shares of company stock valued at $158,195 in the last 90 days. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter worth about $48,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 230.4% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 365.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRNA. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.50.

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.