Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 80,198 Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 52.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80,198 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Moderna were worth $8,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRNA. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at $664,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Moderna by 22.1% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 51,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,519,000 after purchasing an additional 9,360 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Moderna during the first quarter worth about $3,315,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Moderna by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,225,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moderna in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,693,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Moderna from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $88.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America cut their target price on Moderna from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer cut Moderna from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Moderna from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.44.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA opened at $63.94 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.70 and its 200 day moving average is $110.43. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.08 and a beta of 1.67. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.55 and a 1-year high of $170.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 3.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Moderna had a negative net margin of 116.18% and a negative return on equity of 21.35%. The firm had revenue of $241.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($3.62) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total value of $1,816,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 1,442,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,665,819.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at $859,486.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total transaction of $1,816,800.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 1,442,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $174,665,819.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,158 shares of company stock worth $9,259,012 over the last three months. Company insiders own 15.70% 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.