California Public Employees Retirement System Has $58.78 Million Position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 591,073 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,766 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Moderna were worth $58,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Moderna by 77.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,876,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,367,000 after buying an additional 1,690,341 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,126,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,887,000 after purchasing an additional 517,683 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,611,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,572,000 after purchasing an additional 476,201 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 4,863.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 426,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,091,000 after purchasing an additional 418,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 477.5% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 483,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,091,000 after purchasing an additional 399,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $106.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.65 billion, a PE ratio of -8.56 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $102.15 and a 200-day moving average of $93.73. Moderna, Inc. has a one year low of $62.55 and a one year high of $142.79.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $1.33. The company had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 10.23% and a negative net margin of 68.84%. Moderna’s revenue was down 44.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $61,186.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,651. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $1,550,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,056,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,645,526.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $61,186.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,651. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,954 shares of company stock valued at $11,533,976 in the last ninety days. 15.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRNA shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Moderna from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.49.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.