Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.06, but opened at $35.76. Moderna shares last traded at $36.38, with a volume of 2,931,922 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Moderna from $108.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.58.

Moderna Trading Up 7.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.52 and a 200-day moving average of $64.90.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.39) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 365.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 53.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Moderna by 477.3% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Moderna by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 3rd quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.