Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 103,653 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 142% compared to the typical volume of 42,850 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRNA. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Moderna from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Moderna from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $82.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total transaction of $1,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,224,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $266,792,839.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.96, for a total transaction of $1,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,224,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $266,792,839.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,184 shares of company stock valued at $3,804,931 over the last three months. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 20.9% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 56,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,719 shares during the period. Tobam boosted its holdings in Moderna by 121.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 27,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 15,249 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 295.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 35,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,180,000 after buying an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moderna in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,036,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Moderna by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 283,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,714,000 after buying an additional 11,828 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of MRNA traded down $2.32 on Thursday, hitting $55.14. 4,107,342 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,329,313. The company has a quick ratio of 3.92, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.27. Moderna has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.47) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $241.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.41 million. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. Moderna’s revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($3.62) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.