Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was downgraded by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $51.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $99.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.48% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MRNA. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Argus downgraded Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.26.

Moderna Trading Up 7.9 %

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $44.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.18. Moderna has a 12 month low of $31.94 and a 12 month high of $170.47. The company has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.72 and a beta of 1.60.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.39) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 in the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Moderna by 295.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moderna by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 84,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 34,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.