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

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Moderna by 63.4% during the third quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 21,188 shares of the company's stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its position in Moderna by 75.7% during the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 10,260 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 4,419 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Moderna by 1.0% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 121,670 shares of the company's stock worth $8,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Moderna by 10.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 813,893 shares of the company's stock worth $54,392,000 after purchasing an additional 75,817 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Moderna by 75.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 266,929 shares of the company's stock worth $17,839,000 after purchasing an additional 114,769 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moderna Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRNA traded down $1.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.11. 4,358,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,568,649. The business's fifty day moving average is $61.15 and its 200 day moving average is $98.65. Moderna, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.54 and a fifty-two week high of $170.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.39) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moderna, Inc. will post -9.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,505 shares in the company, valued at $571,440.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Moderna news, CFO James M. Mock sold 715 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $42,985.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $571,440.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Mock sold 1,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.39, for a total transaction of $104,874.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $682,754. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,930 shares of company stock worth $217,170 in the last quarter. Insiders own 15.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRNA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. HSBC raised shares of Moderna from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $70.00 to $59.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Moderna from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $60.00 to $48.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.18.

Moderna 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.