Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Moderna Call Options (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 122,063 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 38% compared to the average daily volume of 88,713 call options.

Moderna Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of MRNA opened at $26.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 2.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.09. Moderna has a 12-month low of $23.15 and a 12-month high of $57.69.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.99) by $0.86. The business had revenue of $142.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.26 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 94.31% and a negative return on equity of 25.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($3.33) earnings per share. Moderna has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, August 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI set a $32.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Moderna by 19.0% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 2.6% during the second quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 14,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 53.3% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 0.6% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 65,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 94.1% during the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.