Man Group plc Purchases New Shares in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Man Group plc bought a new stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 78,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,474,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 35.1% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Moderna by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Moderna by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $137.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.73. Moderna, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.28 and a 12-month high of $176.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.03) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.93 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.13) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. CLSA upgraded Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. William Blair started coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moderna from $39.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.53.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

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

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the transaction, the president 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 can be accessed 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 that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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 $3,373,400. This trade 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. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Moderna 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.