Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.3333.

Several brokerages have commented on MRNA. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 16th. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Moderna Stock Performance

MRNA stock opened at $50.03 on Thursday. Moderna has a twelve month low of $22.28 and a twelve month high of $59.55. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.88 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.95 and its 200-day moving average is $35.73.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported ($2.11) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $678.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.91) EPS. Moderna’s revenue was down 33.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, the president owned 1,457,427 shares in the company, valued at $71,180,734.68. The trade was a 9.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 3,775.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 75.33% of the stock is 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.