Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $51.81, but opened at $56.60. Moderna shares last traded at $54.15, with a volume of 5,558,892 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moderna from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $140.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.00.

Moderna Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.92, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of -3.37 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.97.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $571,440.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,754. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,184 shares of company stock valued at $238,531 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,036,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,159,769,000 after purchasing an additional 5,129,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,648,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,743,000 after acquiring an additional 18,728 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,614,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,885,000 after acquiring an additional 167,596 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,427,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,542,000 after acquiring an additional 29,566 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,163,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,787,000 after acquiring an additional 109,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.