Royal Bank of Canada Raises Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target to $135.00

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its target price increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MRNA. HSBC reissued a reduce rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, February 26th. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Moderna from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moderna from $142.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $129.55.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $125.00. 4,513,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,445,723. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $105.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Moderna has a 12 month low of $62.55 and a 12 month high of $142.79.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($3.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.59) by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $167.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.26 million. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 20.10% and a negative net margin of 115.82%. Moderna’s revenue was down 91.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Moderna will post -7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.54, for a total value of $1,628,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,131,931 shares in the company, valued at $231,399,790.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the director now owns 2,131,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,399,790.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total transaction of $63,361.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,235.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,954 shares of company stock worth $14,822,576 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV acquired a new position in Moderna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Moderna by 953.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Moderna by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.