Posted on 05/22/2020 8:19:32 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Moderna's stock price skyrocketed as much as 30% on Monday after the biotech company announced promising early results for its coronavirus vaccine. As ordinary investors piled in, two insiders were quietly heading for the exits.
Moderna's chief financial officer and chief medical officer executed options and sold nearly $30 million of shares combined on Monday and Tuesday, SEC filings reviewed by CNN Business show.
The sales occurred after Moderna (MRNA) excited Wall Street before markets opened Monday by announcing encouraging vaccine trial results. Moderna's market value swelled to $29 billion -- even though the company has no marketed products.
After spiking to as high as $87 on Monday, Moderna's stock price has since retreated below $70 as medical experts have debated the importance of the early findings.
The securities transactions were done through automated insider trading plans, known as 10b5-1 plans, that lay out future stock trades at set prices or on set dates.
Lorence Kim, Moderna's chief financial officer, exercised 241,000 options for $3 million on Monday, filings show. He then immediately sold them for $19.8 million, creating a profit of $16.8 million.
The next day, Tal Zaks, Moderna's chief medical officer, spent $1.5 million to exercise options. He immediately sold the shares for $9.77 million, triggering a profit of $8.2 million.
Moderna said the sales were executed under 10b5-1 trading plans that were established in advance. "These transactions are executing automatically pursuant to these trading plans," the company said.
Although the fortuitous timing of the transactions may raise eyebrows, Charles Whitehead, professor at Cornell Law School, said the stock sales did not appear to raise any legal red flags.
"On its face, there is nothing wrong with these trades," Whitehead said. "It's what a 10b5-1 plan is intended for, assuming the requirements are met."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Pump and dump. It’s what they do.
Big Pharma two-step....
Sure sounds like these insiders know something everyone else doesn’t. It may be legal but it sounds like a scam.
My doctor told me that this company’s vaccine alters your DNA.
It is legal,moral and ethical.
People who think it isn’t have no idea of how investing works and why it might not be a good idea to have your salary and 90% of your savings hitched to a speculative company.
And, investors who bought the shares these guys sold got a market-price deal.
Seems like honest profit taking on the options. This is capitalism in action.
“Sure sounds like these insiders know something everyone else doesn’t. It may be legal but it sounds like a scam.”
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Moderna bragged about some good results for some of their test subjects. What was NOT talked about or released publicly were some very bad side effects suffered by some members of their larger size vaccine subjects. I’m not sure THAT is legal or constitutes trading on insider information.
Yup, aint your daddy’s vaccine.
Smells like insider knowledge.
Most officers of companies are only allowed to buy and sell shares on a schedule to avoid appearances like this.
Sounds like some soon to be ex execs will be enjoying three hots and a cot in the greybar hotel.
Your doctor doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. Period. What they did to develop this potential vaccine is snip the protein spikes of the coronavirus. If you’ve seen portrayals of the virus the protein spikes are the protrusions surrounding the virus core.
They then introduced those into the test subjects in varying amounts to determine if the human body would recognize them and develop antibodies against them.
In the initial testing this worked. Antibodies were detected.
However, it was later reported that the subjects that received the highest levels of the spikes into their bodies many days later developed some very unpleasant and serious issues called Level 3 issues.
No word yet what those subjects problems were as of yet.
yeah, my doctor told me the exact same thing as well; in fact, my doctor told me he's personally seen several of Moderna's test subject's after their DNA had been altered by the vaccine and he sent me this clip of what they looked like afterwards, so i don't understand at all why Moderna's stock shot up like it did:
LMAO!!! I haven’t seen anyone like that since the last time I was in San Francisco on the town after midnight.
Scam if they cash in shares early, but greed if they stay in for more? Can’t win.
Duh. That’s what they did. Try reading the article.
#16. Looks like a night at the Democrat Party presidential convention in 2016. Don’t you recognize Schumer? Or is that Pelosi? Or both? Sure not Helen Thomas, as least not when she was alive. Maybe now in her make-up laden “deep sleep”.
Oh, I know, it’s Hillary after a night of Botox treatments. My bad!
Not just officers...Spouse worked for a company that gave them options...but they were only exercisable on a time schedule...not an officer.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out...Did they plan the reveal of trial stats etc. at start of optionalble period? Coincidence? Hmmm
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