Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

MRNA has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC restated a reduce rating and issued a $86.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 26th. William Blair reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Moderna from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $129.55.

Moderna Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MRNA stock traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $125.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,513,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,445,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of -7.98 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $105.05 and its 200 day moving average is $94.42. Moderna has a fifty-two week low of $62.55 and a fifty-two week high of $142.79.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 20.10% and a negative net margin of 115.82%. The company had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 91.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Moderna will post -7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.92, for a total transaction of $1,663,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,026,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,827,186.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 544 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.05, for a total value of $53,883.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,267 shares in the company, valued at $917,896.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.92, for a total transaction of $1,663,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,026,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,827,186.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,954 shares of company stock valued at $14,822,576. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 12.7% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 2.3% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 39,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,123,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 20.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 186,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,247,000 after acquiring an additional 31,423 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moderna during the third quarter worth about $312,000. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 11.5% in the third quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 9,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moderna Company Profile

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.