BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR $BNTX Shares Acquired by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) by 48.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,798 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 42,960 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in BioNTech were worth $11,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in BioNTech by 95.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 3,514 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BioNTech in the 1st quarter worth about $167,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 368,800.0% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 11,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 11,064 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in BioNTech in the 2nd quarter valued at about $985,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in BioNTech by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 492,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,416,000 after purchasing an additional 13,788 shares during the last quarter. 15.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BioNTech

In related news, COO Sierk Poetting sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.56, for a total transaction of $5,528,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 399,387 shares in the company, valued at $44,156,226.72. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 19.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on BioNTech from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on BioNTech from $143.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on BioNTech from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded BioNTech to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BioNTech presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.56.

BioNTech Stock Performance

Shares of BNTX opened at $97.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of -16.59 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 8.74, a current ratio of 8.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.89. BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR has a 52-week low of $79.52 and a 52-week high of $124.00.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter. BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 5.30% and a negative net margin of 44.39%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BioNTech declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About BioNTech

BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) is a Germany-based biotechnology company that develops next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines, with a primary focus on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Mainz, BioNTech advances a platform approach to design and manufacture therapeutics across oncology, infectious diseases and other high unmet-need areas. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange and became widely known for its rapid development and global deployment of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer.

BioNTech’s core activities include discovery research, clinical development and manufacturing of mRNA-based medicines, personalized cancer immunotherapies, engineered cell therapies, and antibody- and protein-based therapeutics.