UBS Group Lowers Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Price Target to $96.00

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) had its target price lowered by research analysts at UBS Group from $108.00 to $96.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 122.38% from the company’s previous close.

MRNA has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Moderna in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.83.

Moderna Stock Down 9.2 %

MRNA stock opened at $43.17 on Wednesday. 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 50-day moving average of $42.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.42 and a beta of 1.60. Moderna has a 52-week low of $35.80 and a 52-week high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.39) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moderna will post -9.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of Moderna stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. State Street Corp lifted its position in Moderna by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Moderna by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,069,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,670,000 after buying an additional 178,115 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Moderna by 21.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,224,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,166,000 after acquiring an additional 906,114 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Moderna by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,890,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,023,000 after acquiring an additional 19,819 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Moderna by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,073,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,431,000 after acquiring an additional 178,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

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.