BioNTech Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:BNTX)

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 4,317 put options on the company. This is an increase of 119% compared to the average volume of 1,972 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BNTX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of BioNTech in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BioNTech from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on BioNTech from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.81.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioNTech

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in BioNTech by 86.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. EFG International AG acquired a new position in BioNTech during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in BioNTech by 520.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in BioNTech by 118.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 563 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of BioNTech during the fourth quarter worth about $153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.52% of the company’s stock.

BioNTech Trading Down 7.2%

Shares of NASDAQ BNTX traded down $8.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.34. 1,920,945 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,111,615. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.17 and its 200-day moving average is $95.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 7.80 and a current ratio of 7.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.20 and a beta of 1.27. BioNTech 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 Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.40) by ($0.13). BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 6.86% and a negative net margin of 63.54%.The firm had revenue of $122.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.18 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 59.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.60) earnings per share. Analysts expect that BioNTech will post -6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BioNTech announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

BioNTech Company Profile

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.