Oppenheimer Boosts Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target to $163.00

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its price target increased by Oppenheimer from $142.00 to $163.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Moderna from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC restated a reduce rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday. William Blair restated a market perform rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $129.55.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA traded down $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $122.13. The stock had a trading volume of 3,933,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,142,350. Moderna has a 12-month low of $62.55 and a 12-month high of $142.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.48.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.59) by $0.52. Moderna had a negative net margin of 115.82% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Moderna’s revenue was down 91.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moderna will post -7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.54, for a total transaction of $1,628,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,131,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,399,790.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $61,186.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,651. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.54, for a total transaction of $1,628,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,131,931 shares in the company, valued at $231,399,790.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,954 shares of company stock worth $14,822,576 over the last quarter. Insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,916,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,230,000 after buying an additional 120,621 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the first quarter valued at approximately $394,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Moderna by 212.3% in the first quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 11,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 7,750 shares in the last quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Moderna by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broderick Brian C lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 21,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently 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.