V Square Quantitative Management LLC Reduces Position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 25.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 967 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Moderna were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRNA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Moderna by 477.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 483,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,091,000 after purchasing an additional 399,843 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,358,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at about $664,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Moderna by 22.1% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 51,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,519,000 after buying an additional 9,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Stock Up 4.1 %

Moderna stock traded up $3.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $85.59. The company had a trading volume of 332,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,099,247. The stock has a market cap of $32.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 1.67. Moderna, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.55 and a 1 year high of $170.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $118.88 and a 200 day moving average of $114.11.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The firm’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($3.62) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.08, for a total transaction of $1,756,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,269,015 shares in the company, valued at $265,656,276.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Stephen Hoge sold 341 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $49,274.50. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,471,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $212,671,776.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.08, for a total value of $1,756,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,269,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,656,276.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,238 shares of company stock worth $51,819,454. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRNA has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $157.00 price target (down previously from $214.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $125.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.07.

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.