Sanford C. Bernstein Initiates Coverage on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.66% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MRNA. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $157.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.18.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $54.10 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.73 billion, a PE ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.92 and a current ratio of 4.09. Moderna has a fifty-two week low of $53.55 and a fifty-two week 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, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($3.62) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total value of $1,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,792,839.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total value of $1,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,792,839.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at $571,440.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,184 shares of company stock valued at $3,804,931 in the last three months. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 45.0% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Moderna during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Moderna during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 953.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is 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.