Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $176.86 and last traded at $174.5570, with a volume of 16200492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moderna from $39.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.72.

Moderna Trading Up 13.2%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.29. The firm has a market cap of $69.64 billion, a PE ratio of -21.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.13) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total transaction of $5,807,574.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,525,858 shares in the company, valued at $219,921,913.54. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.95, for a total transaction of $485,766.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 74,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,374,353.55. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,882 shares of company stock worth $16,862,280. 10.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,142,877,000. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $378,299,000. Theleme Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at $564,272,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth $79,707,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,461,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,384,000 after purchasing an additional 103,977 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines and vaccines. Its platform is designed to provide cells with instructions to produce proteins that may help prevent or treat infectious diseases, cancer and other medical conditions.

The company’s commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults. Moderna also maintains a pipeline of investigational programs in areas such as seasonal influenza, cytomegalovirus, oncology and rare diseases.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Moderna serves markets in the United States and internationally through regulatory approvals, commercial partnerships and distribution arrangements.