Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 221,493 put options on the company. This is an increase of 169% compared to the typical volume of 82,442 put options.

Moderna Price Performance

Moderna stock opened at $33.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. Moderna has a 52 week low of $31.94 and a 52 week high of $170.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.80 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.11 and a 200-day moving average of $67.32.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.39) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moderna news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210 over the last ninety days. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Moderna by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 12,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at $1,393,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Moderna by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moderna by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRNA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.58.

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.