Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $149.66, but opened at $144.18. Moderna shares last traded at $143.0880, with a volume of 5,121,405 shares traded.

More Moderna News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck reported that their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, combined with Keytruda, met the goals of a Phase 3 study involving 1,137 patients. The treatment reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and distant spread versus Keytruda alone, strengthening the case for Moderna’s oncology pipeline and the commercial potential of the partnership. Reuters cancer vaccine breakthrough article
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. FDA approved Moderna’s updated 2026–2027 Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccines, targeting the XFG subvariant. The approval preserves access to the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine market, though future demand remains an important uncertainty. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded Moderna from “Hold” to “Buy” and assigned a $180 price target, indicating additional potential upside based on the company’s oncology opportunity and recent clinical progress. Argus upgrade article
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer advised a viewer to hold Moderna after the stock’s sharp rally, reflecting continued optimism about the Phase 3 cancer-vaccine result but also caution following the run-up. Jim Cramer Moderna commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna priced an upsized $2.6 billion offering of zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2032, increased from the initially proposed $2.0 billion. Proceeds may fund oncology investments and debt repayment, but the larger financing raised concerns about future share dilution and explains much of the selling pressure. Moderna convertible notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: BioNTech’s decision to halt a mid-stage personalized mRNA colorectal-cancer vaccine trial after a review weakened sentiment across the mRNA oncology sector, raising broader questions about the difficulty of translating promising technology into successful cancer treatments. BioNTech colorectal cancer trial article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Moderna from $41.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bradesco Corretora raised shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.53.

Moderna Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 28.30% and a negative net margin of 141.43%.The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($2.13) earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in Moderna by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 56,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,000 after buying an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 5,647 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,436,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 6,698.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,681,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,523,000 after acquiring an additional 27,274,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the second quarter worth $78,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moderna Company Profile

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.