Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target Cut to $27.00 by Analysts at Leerink Partners

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Leerink Partners from $31.00 to $27.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ target price indicates a potential downside of 19.99% from the stock’s previous close.

MRNA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus cut Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.58.

Moderna Trading Down 2.9 %

MRNA traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.75. The stock had a trading volume of 6,240,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,270,938. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.80 and a beta of 1.60. Moderna has a 52 week low of $31.94 and a 52 week high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.56.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.39) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. Corporate insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC lifted its position in Moderna by 91.1% during the third quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 51,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after buying an additional 24,505 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,550,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 341.3% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 38,400 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moderna by 11.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,614,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,885,000 after purchasing an additional 167,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Moderna by 148.2% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 116,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,758,000 after buying an additional 69,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.