Investors Purchase High Volume of Moderna Put Options (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 105,794 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 67% compared to the average daily volume of 63,504 put options.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $42.82 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Moderna has a 52-week low of $35.80 and a 52-week high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.39) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,440.60. The trade was a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,379 shares of company stock valued at $158,195 in the last three months. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 51,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 24,505 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the third quarter worth about $3,550,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 341.3% during the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 38,400 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moderna by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,614,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,885,000 after purchasing an additional 167,596 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Moderna by 148.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 116,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,758,000 after buying an additional 69,313 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer cut Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.50.

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.