Leerink Partners Lowers Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target to $27.00

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price objective cut by Leerink Partners from $31.00 to $27.00 in a report released on Thursday morning. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MRNA. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.58.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $33.76 on Thursday. Moderna has a twelve month low of $31.94 and a twelve month high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.32.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.39) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Moderna by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 12,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter valued at $1,393,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Moderna by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Company Profile

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.