Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,575 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Moderna were worth $7,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV bought a new position in Moderna during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 4,833.3% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 296 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the first quarter worth $32,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Moderna by 953.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Moderna by 121.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ MRNA traded up $5.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.12. 520,178 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,106,263. The company has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.84 and a beta of 1.66. Moderna, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.55 and a 12-month high of $170.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.67. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.59) by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $167.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.26 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 115.82% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. Moderna’s revenue for the quarter was down 91.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other Moderna news, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,486.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 202,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.34, for a total value of $30,088,098.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,528,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,746,145.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 381,239 shares of company stock worth $52,996,537 in the last three months. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRNA has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $214.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moderna from $143.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.02.

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.