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

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 143,752 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 38% compared to the average volume of 104,486 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moderna

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 295.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 786 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Moderna in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moderna by 286.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 896 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moderna during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Moderna by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA traded up $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.61. The company had a trading volume of 17,290,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,693,394. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a PE ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.86. Moderna has a twelve month low of $29.25 and a twelve month high of $170.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.03.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRNA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on Moderna in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $69.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC upgraded Moderna from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $96.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.63.

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.