Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,341 shares of the company’s stock after selling 789 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Moderna were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 24,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Finally, Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,107,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 2,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $225,833.16. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,515,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,358,473.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 2,388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $225,833.16. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,515,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,358,473.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,026,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,827,186.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,954 shares of company stock worth $14,822,576 in the last three months. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRNA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Moderna from $143.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $142.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.89.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $121.89 on Thursday. Moderna, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.55 and a fifty-two week high of $142.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.24. The company has a market cap of $46.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 20.10% and a negative net margin of 115.82%. The business had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.26 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 91.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.47 EPS for the current year.

Moderna Company Profile

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.