Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $149.66, but opened at $144.18. Moderna shares last traded at $143.0880, with a volume of 5,121,405 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moderna from $67.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moderna from $50.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Bank of America upgraded Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Brookline Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.31.

Moderna Stock Down 7.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.42 billion, a PE ratio of -17.40 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.46.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the sale, the president owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 2.6% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Moderna by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in Moderna by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Moderna by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Moderna by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Moderna

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.