Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Lowered to “Market Perform” at Oppenheimer

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was downgraded by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MRNA. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Moderna from $96.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Moderna from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moderna presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.21.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $69.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.92. Moderna has a one year low of $62.55 and a one year high of $170.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.86. The company has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.45 and a beta of 1.67.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 21.35% and a negative net margin of 116.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($3.62) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.16, for a total value of $2,072,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,457,089 shares in the company, valued at $201,311,416.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,754. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.16, for a total transaction of $2,072,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,457,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,311,416.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,158 shares of company stock worth $13,239,712 in the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in shares of Moderna by 1.7% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 21.6% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 2.0% in the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Moderna by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Moderna

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.