Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.06, but opened at $35.76. Moderna shares last traded at $36.38, with a volume of 2,931,922 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.58.

Moderna Trading Up 5.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.48. The company has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 1.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.39) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210. Insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in Moderna by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 12,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Moderna by 2.2% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 11,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 5.4% in the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Moderna by 7.9% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Moderna by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.