Moderna Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 116,369 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 60% compared to the typical volume of 72,952 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRNA shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Moderna and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Leerink Partners reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 160,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.84, for a total value of $7,814,839.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,457,427 shares in the company, valued at $71,180,734.68. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moderna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in Moderna by 3,775.0% during the 3rd 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. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in Moderna by 39.7% during the 4th 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. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moderna by 148.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $50.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.87. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a PE ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.33.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The company reported ($2.11) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.79) by $0.68. Moderna had a negative net margin of 145.16% and a negative return on equity of 30.15%. 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 business earned ($2.91) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 33.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Moderna 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.