Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 373,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,967 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $15,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRNA. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Moderna by 12.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,899,000 after buying an additional 1,823,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,069,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,670,000 after buying an additional 178,115 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Moderna by 21.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,166,000 after buying an additional 906,114 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 0.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,890,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,023,000 after buying an additional 19,819 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Moderna by 6.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,073,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,431,000 after buying an additional 178,939 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 over the last 90 days. 15.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Moderna from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $111.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.63.

Moderna Price Performance

Moderna stock opened at $33.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a PE ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.10. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.25 and a 12 month high of $170.47.

About Moderna

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.