Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Down 5.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $32.91 and last traded at $32.87. 3,440,849 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 10,895,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRNA shares. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Berenberg Bank set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Moderna from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Moderna from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $29.21.

Moderna Trading Up 1.3%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a PE ratio of -4.06 and a beta of 1.11.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $1.64. Moderna had a negative net margin of 139.61% and a negative return on equity of 29.81%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was down 45.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $703,186.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,679.52. This represents a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 10.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 94.1% during the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 348.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $26,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moderna in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in Moderna in the second quarter worth about $28,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.