Brokerages Set Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target at $79.50

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.83.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Argus downgraded Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 in the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRNA. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Moderna by 230.4% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Moderna by 365.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Moderna by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Moderna by 477.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $35.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.38. Moderna has a 1-year low of $31.94 and a 1-year high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The stock has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of -6.04 and a beta of 1.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.39) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Moderna will post -9.3 EPS for the current year.

About Moderna

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.