Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $73.91 and last traded at $72.50, with a volume of 9227509 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRNA. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price objective on Moderna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $37.13.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.50 and a 200-day moving average of $47.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.90 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The business had revenue of $389.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.52) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $562,637.58. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 125,088 shares of company stock worth $6,193,713 in the last 90 days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 3,775.0% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.