Brokerages Set Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Target Price at $30.36

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.3571.

MRNA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group cut shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Moderna from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, December 1st.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $703,186.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,679.52. The trade was a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 94.1% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Moderna by 348.8% during the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Moderna in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moderna Stock Up 6.3%

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $41.83 on Friday. Moderna has a 52 week low of $22.28 and a 52 week high of $45.40. The company has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of -5.18 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.28.

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

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.