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

by · The Markets Daily

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA – Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 128,988 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the average daily volume of 85,938 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRNA. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Moderna from $33.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Moderna from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.58.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MRNA

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total transaction of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 15.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moderna

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Moderna by 58.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Moderna by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Moderna by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Moderna by 477.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Moderna during the 3rd quarter worth $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Moderna Price Performance

Shares of Moderna stock traded up $3.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.03. The stock had a trading volume of 10,963,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,004,150. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a PE ratio of -6.68 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.68 and its 200 day moving average is $65.48. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Moderna has a twelve month low of $31.94 and a twelve month high of $170.47.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.89) by $1.92. Moderna had a negative net margin of 43.77% and a negative return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.39) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Moderna will post -9.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Moderna

(Get Free Report)

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.

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