Morgan Stanley Lowers Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target to $38.00

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.57% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on MRNA. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. HSBC raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.68.

Moderna Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of MRNA traded up $0.54 on Wednesday, reaching $35.00. 1,425,900 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,275,745. Moderna has a 12 month low of $31.94 and a 12 month high of $170.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.01 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.79.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 over the last ninety days. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 51,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 24,505 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,550,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its position in Moderna by 341.3% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 38,400 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 167,596 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Moderna by 148.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 116,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,758,000 after purchasing an additional 69,313 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is 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.