Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Down 7.1% – Here’s What Happened

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares dropped 7.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $59.66 and last traded at $59.3960. Approximately 1,437,462 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 9,140,032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $36.60.

Moderna Trading Down 6.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.38. The firm has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 1.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.37 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.52) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 9,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $433,878.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at $183,800.16. This trade represents a 70.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $562,637.58. This represents a 32.01% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 125,088 shares of company stock worth $6,193,713. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,584,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,226,335,000 after buying an additional 399,487 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Moderna during the fourth quarter worth about $378,299,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 15.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,131 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 2.5% in the third quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 8,068,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,417,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moderna by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,621,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,290,000 after purchasing an additional 309,126 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.