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

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 179,268 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 83% compared to the average volume of 97,935 call options.

Insider Transactions at Moderna

In other news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,664 shares of company stock worth $115,210 over the last quarter. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRNA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moderna in the fourth quarter worth approximately $163,833,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in Moderna by 335.6% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,590,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,996,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Moderna by 12.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,847,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,276 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Moderna by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,664,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,469 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Moderna by 170.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,766,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113,455 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRNA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Moderna from $70.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price target on Moderna from $41.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC raised Moderna from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Argus cut Moderna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.58.

Moderna Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRNA opened at $35.72 on Wednesday. Moderna has a one year low of $29.25 and a one year high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. The stock has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.82.

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.