Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Upgraded at William Blair

William Blair upgraded shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Moderna from $41.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moderna from $49.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Moderna Trading Up 8.8%

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $145.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.16 and a beta of 0.91. Moderna has a 1 year low of $22.28 and a 1 year high of $176.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.13) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moderna will post -6.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,400. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total transaction of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 2.6% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $226,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moderna by 49.9% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 56,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are assigning substantial commercial potential to the cancer program. Jefferies reportedly estimates as much as $54 billion in peak global sales and raised its price target to $170, while coverage highlighted the possibility that the trial could establish an oncology opportunity comparable to Merck’s Keytruda franchise. Jefferies sees $54 billion peak sales for Moderna cancer therapy
• Positive Sentiment: The favorable Phase 3 outcome has triggered analyst upgrades, including William Blair moving Moderna to Outperform and Bank of America raising its rating to Neutral. The stock also reached a new 12-month high amid renewed enthusiasm for mRNA-based cancer treatments. Moderna raised to Outperform at William Blair
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading has been exceptionally volatile for a third consecutive session. Analysts attribute the sharp swings partly to heavy short interest and a subsequent short squeeze, while options activity suggests elevated volatility may persist even without new clinical information. Moderna rallies as mRNA trading whipsaws
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns remain significant after the recent surge. JPMorgan raised its price target to $77 but retained an Underweight rating, implying substantial downside from current levels. Commentary also cautioned that the clinical success does not eliminate development, regulatory, manufacturing, commercialization, and pipeline risks for Moderna or other mRNA companies. JPMorgan raises Moderna price target but keeps Underweight rating

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.