Probity Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Probity Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,844 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moderna were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRNA. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 45.0% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Moderna in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Moderna in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MRNA shares. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.18.

Moderna Trading Down 4.6 %

Moderna stock opened at $54.82 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.92. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.82 and a 52-week high of $170.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.92, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $21.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 1.66.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.47) by $0.14. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The business had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($3.62) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total value of $1,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares in the company, valued at $266,792,839.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total transaction of $1,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,224,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $266,792,839.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at $682,754. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,184 shares of company stock valued at $3,804,931 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

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.