Oppenheimer Downgrades Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) to Market Perform

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MRNA. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised Moderna from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.53.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of Moderna stock opened at $68.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.36 and a beta of 1.67. Moderna has a 12 month low of $62.55 and a 12 month high of $170.47.

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

Insider Activity at Moderna

In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.16, for a total value of $2,072,400.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 1,457,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,311,416.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Moderna news, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.16, for a total value of $2,072,400.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 1,457,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,311,416.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,486.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 108,158 shares of company stock worth $13,239,712. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $26,000. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the second quarter worth $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moderna by 45.0% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna during the first quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.