Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Earns Underperform Rating from Bank of America

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reissued by analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $41.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 10.19% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MRNA. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Moderna in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $45.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. Moderna has a 1 year low of $35.80 and a 1 year high of $170.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.84 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.84 and a 200 day moving average of $86.50.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.39) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at $571,440.60. The trade was a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,850 shares of company stock valued at $134,560 in the last ninety days. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in Moderna by 73.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 16,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in Moderna by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 287,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,239,000 after buying an additional 3,978 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Moderna by 23.7% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 131,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,787,000 after buying an additional 25,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,069,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,670,000 after buying an additional 178,115 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 21,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,920 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Company Profile

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.