Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $41.00. The stock had previously closed at $43.93, but opened at $46.69. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Moderna shares last traded at $46.5050, with a volume of 6,606,457 shares trading hands.

MRNA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $31.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $703,186.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,679.52. This represents a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FDA accepted Moderna’s revised application and will initiate review of mRNA-1010 with an Aug. 5, 2026 PDUFA date; Moderna proposed an age‑based approval pathway (full approval for adults 50–64, accelerated approval for 65+) which could speed rollout for the 2026–27 flu season. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: multiple outlets report a share pop after the review decision, reflecting investor optimism about near‑term commercial upside if approved. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Clinical pipeline momentum: a mid‑stage trial of a combo flu/COVID mRNA vaccine showed robust immune responses and no safety signals — supportive for Moderna’s broader respiratory vaccine strategy. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: European expansion: the European Commission granted marketing authorization for Moderna’s COVID vaccine mNEXSPIKE, strengthening its respiratory portfolio in Europe. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst view: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $41 but kept a “neutral” rating — a modest positive to guidance but still implies limited near‑term upside per that shop. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory uncertainty remains: the FDA’s earlier refusal and the public debate around it show there is still execution risk and potential delays until the Aug. decision. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: a court recently rejected two Moderna defenses in its patent dispute with Arbutus, keeping intellectual‑property exposure and potential liabilities on the table. Read More.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Moderna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $378,299,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter valued at $94,910,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Moderna in the 4th quarter worth about $95,209,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Moderna by 364.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,869,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,163,000 after acquiring an additional 2,251,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moderna by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,877,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Trading Up 6.1%

The company has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.15.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The company reported ($2.11) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.79) by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $678.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.14 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 145.16% and a negative return on equity of 30.15%. The firm’s revenue was down 33.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.91) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.61 EPS for the current year.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.