CIBC Asset Management Inc Boosts Stake in Moderna, Inc. $MRNA

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 62.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,157 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,938 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Moderna were worth $2,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,584,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,226,335,000 after purchasing an additional 399,487 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 15.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,216,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,131 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 2.5% during the third quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 8,068,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,417,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth about $79,707,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 84.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,779,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,091,000 after purchasing an additional 813,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $37.00 price target on Moderna and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Moderna from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Moderna from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $35.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Abbas Hussain sold 5,682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $264,951.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $562,637.58. This represents a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.40, for a total value of $2,581,462.40. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 1,477,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,535,054.80. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,281 shares of company stock valued at $3,280,293. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $47.44 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.31. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.28 and a 52-week high of $59.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.82 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative net margin of 143.55% and a negative return on equity of 26.64%. The firm had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($2.52) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moderna 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.