Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 43.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,166 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moderna were worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moderna by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 148.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price objective on Moderna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Moderna from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $37.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 have sold 125,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,193,713 in the last ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moderna Stock Up 3.5%

MRNA opened at $72.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.90 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.51. Moderna, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.28 and a fifty-two week high of $73.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

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

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.