Brokerages Set Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target at $38.27

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.2667.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Moderna from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $25.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 18th.

Moderna Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $67.44 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Moderna has a 12-month low of $22.28 and a 12-month high of $85.60. The company has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($3.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.02) by ($0.38). Moderna had a negative return on equity of 26.64% and a negative net margin of 143.55%.The company had revenue of $389.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.52) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 260.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 53,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $2,739,870.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 1,483,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,225,271.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 3,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $173,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 67,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,373,400. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 125,088 shares of company stock worth $6,193,713. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Moderna by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

About Moderna

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.