Moderna, Inc. $MRNA Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 41.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 99,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 69,478 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Moderna were worth $5,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRNA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,584,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,226,335,000 after purchasing an additional 399,487 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,299,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 15.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,223,000 after buying an additional 1,115,131 shares during the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 8.6% during the second quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 7,868,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,100,000 after buying an additional 626,420 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,621,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,290,000 after buying an additional 309,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MRNA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Moderna from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Moderna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Moderna from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Moderna Stock Up 6.3%

MRNA opened at $57.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of -7.11 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.21 and its 200-day moving average is $52.50. Moderna, Inc. has a one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $85.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The firm had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.52) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $433,878.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $183,800.16. The trade was a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,406 shares of company stock worth $5,928,762. 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.