Key Points
- Moderna President Stephen Hoge sold 39,224 shares for approximately $8.37 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his position by 2.39% while retaining about 1.6 million shares.
- Moderna shares have surged sharply, recently trading near $218 compared with a 52-week low of $22.28, but the company remains unprofitable and analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $101.45 price target.
- Upcoming cancer-vaccine data is the key bullish catalyst, while valuation concerns, continuing losses, profit-taking and broader weakness in vaccine stocks remain significant risks.
Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) President Stephen Hoge sold 39,224 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.48, for a total value of $8,373,539.52. Following the sale, the president owned 1,599,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $341,409,597.84. This represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Stephen Hoge also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Thursday, October 15th, Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total transaction of $8,640,084.40.
- On Monday, September 14th, Stephen Hoge sold 40,294 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.13, for a total transaction of $5,807,574.22.
- On Tuesday, September 15th, Stephen Hoge sold 40,281 shares of Moderna stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.07, for a total value of $5,883,845.67.
Moderna Stock Performance
MRNA stock traded down $18.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $218.01. 21,365,242 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,294,008. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $156.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.88. Moderna, Inc. has a one year low of $22.28 and a one year high of $242.29.
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.03) by $0.06. Moderna had a negative net margin of 141.43% and a negative return on equity of 28.30%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.13) EPS. Moderna's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -6.11 EPS for the current year.
Moderna News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Moderna this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Upcoming melanoma and other cancer-vaccine data remain the main bullish catalyst. Earlier positive results from Moderna’s personalized cancer-vaccine collaboration with Merck have increased expectations that new data could support the pipeline and help sustain the stock’s gains. Merck and Moderna cancer vaccine strategy
- Positive Sentiment: Investor interest has also been supported by strong momentum, healthcare-sector fund flows and optimism that Moderna’s pipeline could diversify the business beyond COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna rallies as money rotates into healthcare
- Neutral Sentiment: President Stephen Hoge sold a combined 78,369 shares in transactions conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although the sales may weigh on sentiment, they represented only a small portion of his remaining holdings and were not discretionary trades made during the current move. Moderna insider trading filing
- Neutral Sentiment: A study comparing the stability of three mRNA vaccines in human blood may provide useful scientific context for the platform, but it does not appear to offer an immediate change to Moderna’s revenue outlook or valuation. mRNA vaccine stability study
- Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking has intensified after Moderna became one of the market’s strongest performers, with analysts cautioning that the stock’s valuation now depends heavily on successful pipeline execution. Goldman Sachs raised its target to $137 but retained a Neutral rating, leaving the target substantially below recent trading levels. Moderna valuation debate
- Negative Sentiment: The broader selloff in vaccine stocks, including declines in Novavax and BioNTech, has added sector-wide pressure. Investors are also wary of Moderna’s continuing losses and negative cash flow while awaiting the cancer-data catalyst. Vaccine-stock selloff
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Moderna during the second quarter worth $2,142,877,000. Theleme Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $564,272,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Moderna by 4.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,461,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,384,000 after acquiring an additional 103,977 shares during the last quarter. Merck & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Moderna during the second quarter worth $161,642,545. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Moderna in the second quarter worth $139,317,000. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MRNA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Moderna from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Moderna from $77.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Singular Research raised Moderna to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.45.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Moderna
About Moderna
(
Get Free Report)
Moderna, Inc is a biotechnology company that develops medicines and vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Its platform is designed to instruct cells to produce proteins that can help prevent or treat disease, supporting the company's work across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune conditions, and cardiovascular diseases.
Moderna's commercial products include Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, and mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.
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