Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 312,800 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 55.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 881,200 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 312,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.22% of Moderna worth $44,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 35.1% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Moderna by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Stock Up 2.9%

MRNA opened at $55.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.83 and a beta of 0.94. Moderna, Inc. has a one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $85.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The business had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.52) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Moderna from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, July 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Moderna from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moderna from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $264,951.66. Following the sale, the director owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $562,637.58. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the sale, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.