Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. Invests $2.76 Million in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 39,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,763,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna in the first quarter worth $31,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $45,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter valued at $49,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $173,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 67,468 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,400. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Moderna

Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moderna and Merck’s individualized mRNA cancer vaccine, intismeran autogene, reportedly reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence by 49% in a late-stage study when used with Keytruda. The results reinforce Moderna’s strategy of expanding beyond COVID-19 vaccines and could support a large oncology opportunity. Skin cancer vaccine report
• Positive Sentiment: Wolfe Research upgraded Moderna following the Phase 3 oncology data and estimated a potential cancer-vaccine market opportunity of approximately $9.2 billion. That outlook helped fuel the recent rally and improves confidence that Moderna may develop meaningful non-COVID revenue. Wolfe cancer-vaccine opportunity report
• Positive Sentiment: The FDA’s approval of the first mRNA-based flu vaccine highlights growing recognition of mRNA technology and may increase the strategic and patent value of platforms used by companies such as Moderna. FDA mRNA flu vaccine report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors are increasingly viewing Moderna as an oncology and platform-technology company rather than solely a COVID-19 vaccine maker. However, recent trading alerts and analyst-driven momentum appear to have amplified volatility, making the shares vulnerable to profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upgrade, the stock is giving back part of its rally because Moderna’s roughly $59 billion valuation remains difficult to justify against a loss-making business and weak near-term revenue. The company reported a quarterly loss and continues to face uncertainty over the timing and probability of commercializing its pipeline. Moderna valuation and pullback report
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage also cautions that the cancer-vaccine evidence remains limited and that manufacturing personalization, treatment costs, regulatory review and broad adoption could restrict the therapy’s eventual use. Cancer-vaccine barriers explainer
• Negative Sentiment: Moderna’s CEO warned that China’s state-backed investment in mRNA technology is intensifying global competition, potentially increasing pressure on intellectual property, pricing and long-term market share. China mRNA competition report

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $149.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $59.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.73 and a beta of 0.91. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.28 and a 52-week high of $176.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.05 and its 200 day moving average is $58.46.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRNA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Moderna from $67.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.31.

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.