Theleme Partners LLP Takes $564.27 Million Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Theleme Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,057,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,272,000. Moderna makes up approximately 33.5% of Theleme Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Theleme Partners LLP owned about 2.02% of Moderna as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth $2,142,877,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter worth $378,299,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter worth $95,209,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,707,000. Finally, Merck & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $161,642,545,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are assigning substantial commercial potential to the cancer program. Jefferies reportedly estimates as much as $54 billion in peak global sales and raised its price target to $170, while coverage highlighted the possibility that the trial could establish an oncology opportunity comparable to Merck’s Keytruda franchise. Jefferies sees $54 billion peak sales for Moderna cancer therapy
• Positive Sentiment: The favorable Phase 3 outcome has triggered analyst upgrades, including William Blair moving Moderna to Outperform and Bank of America raising its rating to Neutral. The stock also reached a new 12-month high amid renewed enthusiasm for mRNA-based cancer treatments. Moderna raised to Outperform at William Blair
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading has been exceptionally volatile for a third consecutive session. Analysts attribute the sharp swings partly to heavy short interest and a subsequent short squeeze, while options activity suggests elevated volatility may persist even without new clinical information. Moderna rallies as mRNA trading whipsaws
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns remain significant after the recent surge. JPMorgan raised its price target to $77 but retained an Underweight rating, implying substantial downside from current levels. Commentary also cautioned that the clinical success does not eliminate development, regulatory, manufacturing, commercialization, and pipeline risks for Moderna or other mRNA companies. JPMorgan raises Moderna price target but keeps Underweight rating

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Moderna from $40.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $39.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair raised Moderna from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA opened at $145.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $57.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.16 and a beta of 0.91. Moderna, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.28 and a fifty-two week high of $176.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,400. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moderna Profile

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.