Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 3,565,164 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the previous session’s volume of 4,701,348 shares.The stock last traded at $37.86 and had previously closed at $36.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MRNA shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.00.

Moderna Stock Performance

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 $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.07.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. Moderna’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.39) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,754. This represents a 13.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,930 shares of company stock valued at $217,170. 15.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth $26,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Moderna by 230.4% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.