Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Down 3.4% – Here’s Why

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s stock price was down 3.4% on Friday. The stock traded as low as $221.70 and last traded at $223.37. 8,023,354 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 12,573,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.35.

Key Stories Impacting Moderna

Investors following MRNA have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: The company highlighted progress in its oncology pipeline, including its personalized cancer vaccine, positioning cancer treatments as a potential longer-term growth driver. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Moderna is scheduled to join the MSCI World Index in November, which could broaden its investor reach. It also reported peer-reviewed real-world data on its mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccine in older adults; the reports provided limited detail on the potential commercial impact. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned about roughly $4 billion in planned 2027 cash costs, much of it tied to pipeline investment, while visibility into future revenue growth remains limited. Coverage also noted that the 2026 revenue outlook may fall short of analyst expectations, tempering the more optimistic growth forecast. Article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRNA. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moderna from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Moderna from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Bradesco Corretora upgraded shares of Moderna to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moderna from $48.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.75.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 3.62 and a quick ratio of 3.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.46 and a beta of 1.16.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 6th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $1.48. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $890.25 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 110.46% and a negative return on equity of 25.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.51) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -5.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, CFO Jamey Mock sold 34,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $4,685,093.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,985,343.75. This trade represents a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total value of $5,807,574.22. Following the sale, the president directly owned 1,525,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,921,913.54. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,251 shares of company stock worth $33,875,904. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 36.5% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 7.3% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moderna by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 886 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 222 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 158.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc. is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can help prevent or treat disease. The company’s commercial products include Spikevax, a vaccine against COVID-19, and mRESVIA, a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Moderna also researches potential mRNA-based vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases, cancer, and rare diseases. Founded in 2010 as Moderna Therapeutics, the company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.