Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 4,718 Shares of Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 24.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,469 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,718 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Archer Investment Corp purchased a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 148.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total value of $485,766.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 74,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRNA. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $41.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $39.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.72.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of Moderna stock opened at $145.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.11 billion, a PE ratio of -18.22 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.45. Moderna, Inc. has a one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $176.66.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.13) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moderna News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that the Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial of intismeran autogene plus Keytruda met its primary recurrence-free-survival endpoint in resected stage IIB–IV melanoma. It was the first positive Phase 3 result for an mRNA-based cancer therapy and strengthens Moderna’s long-term oncology outlook, although detailed data have not yet been released. Moderna melanoma trial article
• Positive Sentiment: Technical analysts describe the recent consolidation as a potential bullish pennant following the cancer-vaccine-driven breakout. Elevated short interest could provide additional buying pressure if the shares break above resistance. Moderna technical forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Legal Officer Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares for approximately $486,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards. Because the transaction was planned and tax-related, it provides limited insight into management’s view of Moderna’s valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co. Redburn downgraded Moderna from Neutral to Sell, saying the cancer-vaccine rally has made the stock overvalued. The firm raised its price target to $81 from $40, but the new target remains well below recent trading levels, intensifying profit-taking concerns. Rothschild Moderna downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: GSK is advancing an mRNA influenza vaccine toward Phase 3 after reporting stronger immune responses in Phase 2. The competing program could challenge Moderna’s newly approved mFlusiva and increase pressure on its commercial vaccine pipeline. GSK mRNA flu vaccine competition

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.