Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $67.84 and last traded at $67.63, with a volume of 3741318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRNA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $37.13.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.35.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.52) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $433,878.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $183,800.16. This trade represents a 70.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713 in the last 90 days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in Moderna by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in Moderna by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Moderna by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Company 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.