Barclays Initiates Coverage on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Research analysts at Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 46.65% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Moderna from a “market perform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Moderna from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $28.77.

Moderna Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of MRNA opened at $46.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.18. Moderna has a 12-month low of $22.28 and a 12-month high of $55.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.81 and a beta of 1.17.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $1.64. Moderna had a negative net margin of 139.61% and a negative return on equity of 29.81%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 45.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 23,853 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $703,186.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,924 shares in the company, valued at $115,679.52. This trade represents a 85.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Moderna by 94.1% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 348.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 75.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moderna Company Profile

Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s platform leverages synthetic mRNA to instruct cells to produce proteins that can prevent or treat diseases. Since its founding in 2010, Moderna has advanced from early-stage research into a broad pipeline of vaccine and therapeutic candidates designed to address infectious diseases, rare genetic disorders and chronic illnesses.

Moderna’s flagship product is its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind to receive emergency use authorization and later full approval in multiple jurisdictions.