Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Trading Down 5.8% – Here’s Why

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s share price fell 5.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $32.91 and last traded at $32.87. 3,440,849 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 10,895,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRNA. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Moderna from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Moderna in a research note on Friday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $29.21.

Moderna Stock Down 6.4%

The company has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.26.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $1.64. Moderna had a negative net margin of 139.61% and a negative return on equity of 29.81%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 45.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $703,186.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,679.52. This represents a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in Moderna by 94.1% during the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Moderna by 348.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $26,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Moderna in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.