The U.S. government doubled its initial investment for Moderna's potential COVID-19 vaccine
The shares of Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) were last seen up 5.4% at $77.18, after the U.S. government nearly doubled its initial $483 million investment and awarded the biotechnology company an additional $472 million over the weekend to support the development of its potential coronavirus vaccine. The experimental treatment is entering late-stage trials, which will include a stage-three study involving at least 30,000 volunteers.
Despite this, BMO slashed its price target to $94 from $112 this morning. This puts the consensus 12-month price target at $92.77, which is still a 19.9% premium to current levels. The majority of analysts are optimistic on MRNA, however. Ten consider it a "buy" or better, while just three say "hold," with not a single sell to be seen.
On the charts, MRNA has slightly cooled off from its all-time high of $95.21 on July 17. Most of these losses were captured by the stock's 40-day moving average, however. Plus, year-to-date, MRNA sports an impressive 301% lead.
In the options pits, it looks as if calls are more than doubling puts. In the last 10 days, 133,137 calls were exchanged, as opposed to 54,149 puts. On the other hand, MRNA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) now stands higher than 90% of readings from the past year, implying short-term options traders have been more put-biased than usual.