Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Stock Price Up 8.8% – Still a Buy?

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) shot up 8.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $35.00 and last traded at $35.90. 3,115,410 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 12,516,600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays downgraded Moderna from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research assumed 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $96.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.63.

Moderna Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.20. The firm has a market cap of $12.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.63 and a beta of 1.59.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were 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 $843,690.43. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 91.1% in the 3rd quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 51,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,435,000 after buying an additional 24,505 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,550,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Moderna by 341.3% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 38,400 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased 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 worth $107,885,000 after purchasing an additional 167,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 315,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,842,000 after buying an additional 69,360 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.