Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Given “Hold” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MRNA. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moderna from $163.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Moderna from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $214.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Moderna from $91.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $125.29.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of Moderna stock opened at $86.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.18 billion, a PE ratio of -5.53 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.22. Moderna has a 12 month low of $62.55 and a 12 month high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 21.35% and a negative net margin of 116.18%. The company’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($3.62) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna will post -7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.96, for a total transaction of $30,844.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,486,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,808,007.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,296 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.47, for a total value of $210,561.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,725,918.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.96, for a total value of $30,844.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 1,486,508 shares in the company, valued at $179,808,007.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 396,239 shares of company stock valued at $55,563,937 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 58,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in Moderna by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 4,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Moderna by 280.8% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,540,000 after purchasing an additional 33,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 6,528.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 387,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,552,000 after acquiring an additional 381,808 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.