Moderna Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 127,563 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 54% compared to the average volume of 83,078 call options.

Moderna Stock Up 0.6%

Moderna stock opened at $30.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.49 and a beta of 1.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.52. Moderna has a twelve month low of $23.15 and a twelve month high of $129.39.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported ($2.52) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.92) by $0.40. The business had revenue of $108.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.35 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.69% and a negative net margin of 105.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 35.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($3.07) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on Moderna from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Moderna from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Moderna from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $50.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Moderna by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 74,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. New Insight Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Moderna by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. New Insight Wealth Advisors now owns 8,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 392 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.