Leerink Partners Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Leerink Partners from $15.00 to $18.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price objective would indicate a potential downside of 21.86% from the stock’s previous close.

MRNA has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler set a $63.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Moderna from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Moderna from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.15.

Moderna Stock Up 3.0%

MRNA opened at $23.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 2.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $25.87 and its 200-day moving average is $26.97. Moderna has a 52-week low of $22.28 and a 52-week high of $48.92.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.15) by $1.64. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $893.29 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 139.61% and a negative return on equity of 29.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 45.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. Moderna has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,708,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,192 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,877,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,690 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Moderna by 15.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,131 shares during the period. Theleme Partners LLP boosted its position in Moderna by 2.5% during the third quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 8,068,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,417,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Moderna by 0.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,597,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,982,000 after purchasing an additional 11,270 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.