Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Director Sells $1,663,800.00 in Stock

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.92, for a total value of $1,663,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,026,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,827,186.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Noubar Afeyan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 24th, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.32, for a total transaction of $1,624,800.00.
• On Wednesday, April 17th, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total transaction of $1,550,700.00.
• On Wednesday, April 10th, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.12, for a total transaction of $1,606,800.00.
• On Wednesday, April 3rd, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.68, for a total value of $1,525,200.00.
• On Wednesday, March 27th, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.06, for a total transaction of $1,635,900.00.
• On Wednesday, March 20th, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.39, for a total transaction of $1,535,850.00.
• On Wednesday, March 13th, Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.54, for a total transaction of $1,628,100.00.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $125.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.98 and a beta of 1.57. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.55 and a 1-year high of $142.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.36.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative net margin of 115.82% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was down 91.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,907,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,058,000 after acquiring an additional 6,248,623 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $347,565,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,876,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,341 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,225,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,460 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,126,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,887,000 after purchasing an additional 517,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, April 1st. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.55.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines.