Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Shares Purchased by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 283,909 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,828 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned approximately 0.07% of Moderna worth $33,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moderna by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,907,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,372,058,000 after purchasing an additional 6,248,623 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 valued at $718,584,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614,460 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moderna by 42.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,545,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,724,000 after acquiring an additional 463,960 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Capital Management Company LP acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,150,000. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of Moderna by 156.9% during the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 741,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,044,000 after purchasing an additional 453,004 shares in the last quarter. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of MRNA opened at $66.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 3.92. Moderna, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.55 and a 1-year high of $170.47. The stock has a market cap of $25.61 billion, a PE ratio of -4.26 and a beta of 1.67.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($3.33) earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the company earned ($3.62) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRNA. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Moderna from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moderna news, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.84, for a total value of $1,842,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,254,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,883,202.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO James M. Mock sold 689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.24, for a total value of $81,467.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,269 shares in the company, valued at $859,486.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noubar Afeyan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.84, for a total value of $1,842,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,254,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $276,883,202.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,158 shares of company stock valued at $9,259,012. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Moderna 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.