Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Up 4.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was up 4.5% during trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $137.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Moderna traded as high as $242.29 and last traded at $236.50. 17,249,434 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 40% from the average session volume of 12,298,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.30.

MRNA has been the topic of several other research reports. CLSA raised shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $50.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moderna from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $4,685,093.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,375 shares in the company, valued at $7,985,343.75. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.07, for a total transaction of $5,883,845.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 1,562,029 shares in the company, valued at $228,165,576.03. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 118,882 shares of company stock valued at $16,862,280 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Moderna News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Personalized cancer-vaccine optimism remains the main catalyst. Moderna and Merck’s individualized mRNA cancer vaccine previously met primary and key secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 melanoma trial, and the companies are testing the platform across melanoma, lung, bladder and kidney cancers. Full Phase 3 data expected later this month could provide another major catalyst. Moderna company overview
• Positive Sentiment: Manufacturing progress supports the commercial outlook. Merck CEO Rob Davis said the complex cancer-vaccine manufacturing process is becoming increasingly efficient and that the partners have it “down to a very tight science.” Faster production could improve scalability if the vaccine wins approval. CNBC cancer vaccine manufacturing article
• Positive Sentiment: Sector rotation and technical momentum are attracting buyers. Fresh investment is moving from popular technology shares into healthcare, while Moderna has become the S&P 500’s strongest performer year to date. Nasdaq-100 inclusion may also create additional demand from index-tracking funds. Healthcare sector rotation article
• Neutral Sentiment: Near-term events could produce substantial volatility. Moderna’s third-quarter earnings report is scheduled for November 6, followed by Analyst Day on November 12. Investors will likely focus on pipeline updates, cash use and the path back to profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation has become difficult to justify on current fundamentals. Moderna remains unprofitable, burns cash and is expected to post a full-year loss. Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $137 but retained a Neutral rating, implying considerable downside from the current trading level. Other commentary also warns that analyst targets remain well below the stock after its dramatic rally. Seeking Alpha Moderna valuation article

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth $2,142,877,000. Theleme Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter valued at about $564,272,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Moderna by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,461,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,384,000 after acquiring an additional 103,977 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Moderna by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,392,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,549,000 after acquiring an additional 891,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merck & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $161,642,545. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Up 4.5%

The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $94.42 billion, a PE ratio of -29.60 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.67.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.13) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can help prevent or treat disease, supporting the company’s work across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions, and cardiovascular diseases.

Moderna’s commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.