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

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 113,636 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 47% compared to the typical volume of 77,233 call options.

Moderna Stock Down 7.5%

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $49.56 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.29. Moderna has a one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $59.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.20.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRNA. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 160,009 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.84, for a total transaction of $7,814,839.56. Following the sale, the president directly owned 1,457,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,180,734.68. The trade was a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 34,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 6,751 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,425,000. Finally, Hamilton Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,098,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Moderna

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.