Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Sector Perform” Rating for Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.17% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MRNA. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moderna from $178.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Moderna from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Moderna from $157.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.44.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $65.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.92. Moderna has a 1 year low of $62.55 and a 1 year high of $170.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.18 billion, a PE ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $90.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.76.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.47) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($3.62) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,754. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total value of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,600 shares in the company, valued at $682,754. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total transaction of $81,467.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at $859,486.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 93,158 shares of company stock worth $11,167,312. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRNA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,140,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in Moderna by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 283,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,714,000 after acquiring an additional 11,828 shares in the last quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,372,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $524,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Moderna by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.