Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Piper Sandler in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $69.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $115.00. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 77.24% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Moderna in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.93. 7,718,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,722,410. The firm has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of -6.70 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.68. Moderna has a 12 month low of $35.80 and a 12 month high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.39) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,754. The trade was a 13.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,930 shares of company stock worth $217,170. 15.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in Moderna by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.