Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 179,268 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 83% compared to the average volume of 97,935 call options.

Moderna Stock Up 8.3 %

Shares of MRNA stock opened at $35.72 on Wednesday. Moderna has a 1-year low of $29.25 and a 1-year high of $170.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The company has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % 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. Insiders have sold a total of 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Moderna by 335.6% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,590,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,003 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Moderna by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 142,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,926,000 after purchasing an additional 10,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Moderna by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 664,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,611,000 after purchasing an additional 36,558 shares during the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.58.

Moderna Company Profile

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.