North Star Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 3,750 Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,142,877,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Moderna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $378,299,000. Theleme Partners LLP acquired a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $564,272,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,209,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at $79,707,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna News Roundup

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

Moderna Trading Down 3.3%

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $137.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.73. Moderna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.28 and a 12 month high of $176.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% 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. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.