Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $44.94, but opened at $43.28. The Goldman Sachs Group now has a $51.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $99.00. Moderna shares last traded at $44.10, with a volume of 2,069,840 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MRNA. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Moderna from $108.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, 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 Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 365.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Moderna by 295.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 53.5% during 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. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 477.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Moderna by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Down 1.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.64 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.39) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.27 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.