Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 2,231,653 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the previous session’s volume of 4,827,578 shares.The stock last traded at $44.59 and had previously closed at $41.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRNA shares. Berenberg Bank began coverage on Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Moderna from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.66 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.96 and a 200 day moving average of $93.71. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.39) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at $571,440.60. This represents a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,930 shares of company stock valued at $217,170. Company insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Moderna by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,276 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moderna by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,069,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,670,000 after acquiring an additional 178,115 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Moderna by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,166,000 after acquiring an additional 906,114 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,890,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,023,000 after acquiring an additional 19,819 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Moderna by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,073,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,431,000 after purchasing an additional 178,939 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by 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.