Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Boosts Stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,081,869 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 154,112 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.28% of Moderna worth $107,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Pacific Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 4,833.3% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 79.1% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moderna by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Stephen Hoge sold 2,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $225,833.16. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,515,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,358,473.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $61,186.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,651. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Stephen Hoge sold 2,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.57, for a total value of $225,833.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 1,515,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,358,473.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,954 shares of company stock valued at $8,407,976 in the last three months. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Moderna from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Moderna in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Moderna from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moderna has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.49.

Moderna Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRNA opened at $103.79 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $100.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.52. Moderna, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.55 and a 12-month high of $156.75. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $1.33. The business had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Moderna had a negative return on equity of 10.23% and a negative net margin of 68.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.61 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moderna, Inc. will post -7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.