Argus Downgrades Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) to Hold

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was downgraded by equities researchers at Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports.

MRNA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Moderna in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Moderna in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.50.

Moderna Stock Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $40.76 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.73. Moderna has a twelve month low of $35.80 and a twelve month high of $170.47. 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 company has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a PE ratio of -7.00 and a beta of 1.58.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.39) earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This trade represents a 7.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,379 shares of company stock worth $158,195. Insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. State Street Corp increased its stake in Moderna by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,899,000 after buying an additional 1,823,276 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Moderna by 21.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,166,000 after purchasing an additional 906,114 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in Moderna during the 3rd quarter worth $23,825,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Moderna by 10,687.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 319,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,353,000 after purchasing an additional 316,552 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Moderna by 201.9% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 274,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,567,000 after purchasing an additional 183,407 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is 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.