BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) was upgraded by research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

BNTX has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on BioNTech from $143.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on BioNTech from $116.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Truist Financial upgraded BioNTech to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of BioNTech in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.44.

BioNTech Price Performance

BNTX stock opened at $92.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 8.80 and a quick ratio of 8.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 1.36. BioNTech has a 1 year low of $79.52 and a 1 year high of $124.00.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter. BioNTech had a negative net margin of 44.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.30%. Equities research analysts anticipate that BioNTech will post -4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BioNTech announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of BioNTech

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of BioNTech by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BioNTech by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of BioNTech by 5.7% in the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 2,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in BioNTech by 4.0% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings 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. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.