Moderna FY2024 EPS Forecast Lowered by Leerink Partnrs

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) – Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs cut their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Moderna in a report issued on Monday, January 13th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Foroohar now anticipates that the company will post earnings of ($9.61) per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of ($9.50). The consensus estimate for Moderna’s current full-year earnings is ($9.30) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Moderna’s Q4 2024 earnings at ($3.28) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($2.58) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($2.56) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($2.55) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($10.28) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($7.73) EPS and FY2027 earnings at ($4.13) EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Argus lowered Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.68.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $34.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.56. Moderna has a 52 week low of $31.94 and a 52 week high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced 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. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.39) earnings per share. Moderna’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 12.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,276 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Moderna by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,166,000 after purchasing an additional 906,114 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in Moderna during the 3rd quarter worth $23,825,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 10,687.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 319,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,353,000 after buying an additional 316,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 773,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,175,000 after buying an additional 298,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.