Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 15,218 Shares of Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379,451 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,218 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Moderna worth $25,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Moderna

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares in the company, valued at $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,440.60. The trade was a 7.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,379 shares of company stock valued at $158,195. Corporate insiders own 15.20% of the company's stock.

Moderna Price Performance

MRNA traded up $0.68 on Wednesday, reaching $40.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,521,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,133,266. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.20 and a current ratio of 4.39. Moderna, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.80 and a 52-week high of $170.47. The company has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.92 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.81.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.39) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Moderna in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Moderna from $59.00 to $45.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Moderna in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moderna from $140.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Moderna in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.50.

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.