Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Has Average Price Target of $101.45

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.10.

MRNA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (up from $167.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Moderna in a research note on Friday, August 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $198.85 on Tuesday. Moderna has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $254.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.87. The company has a market capitalization of $79.39 billion, a PE ratio of -24.89 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.13) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial met its primary endpoint. Adding intismeran to Merck’s Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% versus Keytruda alone; the combination also reduced distant metastasis or death by 38%. The vaccine’s delayed improvement after six months could support the case for a durable immune response. Merck and Moderna’s Cancer Vaccine Worked—Who Gets Paid?
• Positive Sentiment: The melanoma program could become a major revenue source for Moderna if approved. Analysts cited in the coverage estimate peak annual melanoma sales of approximately $5.4 billion, with Moderna and Merck sharing development costs and profits equally. Regulatory filing timing and manufacturing plans are now key catalysts. Moderna and Merck’s Promising Skin Cancer Vaccine
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Moderna’s next earnings report for updates on losses, declining COVID revenue, product launches and the broader pipeline. The company remains unprofitable, making progress toward commercializing newer products especially important. What to Expect From Moderna’s Next Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: The Phase 3 benefit was below the roughly 49% recurrence reduction from the earlier study and below what investors had priced in. The resulting selloff suggests the stock’s valuation—largely based on future cancer-vaccine revenue—left little room for disappointment. Commercial execution is also unproven because each vaccine is individually manufactured for a patient. Moderna’s Rally May Have Run Out of Steam

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total value of $5,807,574.22. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 1,525,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,921,913.54. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 34,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $4,685,093.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,985,343.75. The trade was a 36.98% 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. Insiders have sold 197,251 shares of company stock worth $33,875,904 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $161,642,545. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at about $899,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,168,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moderna by 1,387.6% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in Moderna by 2,042.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 69,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

About Moderna

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 stimulate immune responses or support the treatment of disease. The company’s research programs span infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions and other therapeutic areas.

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.