Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Down 8.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s stock price fell 8.9% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $108.00 to $96.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Moderna traded as low as $43.24 and last traded at $43.28. 7,908,741 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 9,949,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.53.

MRNA has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Moderna in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.83.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Moderna by 91.1% in the third quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 51,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after purchasing an additional 24,505 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the third quarter valued at about $3,550,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 341.3% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,318,000 after buying an additional 38,400 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 11.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,614,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,885,000 after acquiring an additional 167,596 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Moderna by 148.2% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 116,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,758,000 after acquiring an additional 69,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Down 9.4 %

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 firm has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.40 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.88.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.39) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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.