UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Grows Holdings in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 76,179 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,330 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Moderna were worth $1,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in Moderna by 94.1% during the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 348.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $703,186.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,679.52. This trade represents a 85.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Moderna from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group downgraded Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Moderna from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.36.

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA opened at $45.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.94. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.28 and a 1-year high of $55.20.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $1.64. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 29.81% and a negative net margin of 139.61%.The business 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 earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 45.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.