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

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 128,988 call options on the company. This is an increase of 50% compared to the typical volume of 85,938 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shannon Thyme Klinger sold 1,418 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $60,676.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,690.43. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,664 shares of company stock valued at $115,210. Company insiders own 15.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moderna

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,031,000 after buying an additional 48,316 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 297.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 3,998 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 45,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,379,000 after buying an additional 3,930 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moderna by 349.6% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares during the period. 75.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moderna Trading Up 8.7 %

NASDAQ:MRNA traded up $3.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.03. 10,963,259 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,004,150. Moderna has a 12-month low of $31.94 and a 12-month high of $170.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.68 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.48.

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 return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 43.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.39) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moderna will post -9.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Moderna from $108.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Moderna from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $69.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Moderna in a report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Moderna from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Moderna from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moderna has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.58.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.