Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Up 8.6% – Time to Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) traded up 8.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $34.71 and last traded at $34.9240. 1,688,797 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 6,961,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Moderna from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Moderna from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $29.21.

Moderna Trading Up 10.0%

The firm has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.39 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.58.

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. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 29.81% and a negative net margin of 139.61%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $893.29 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. Moderna’s quarterly revenue was down 45.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $703,186.44. Following the sale, the director owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,679.52. This trade represents a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Moderna by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 2.6% in the second quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 14,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 65,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,806,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 94.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in Moderna by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 9,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.