Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Upgraded to “Buy” at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $58.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MRNA. TD Cowen cut their target price on Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Moderna from $157.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of Moderna stock opened at $39.51 on Monday. Moderna has a 1 year low of $35.80 and a 1 year high of $170.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.56 and a 200 day moving average of $96.68. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.39) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This trade represents a 7.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,930 shares of company stock valued at $217,170. 15.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Moderna during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Moderna by 230.4% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. 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.