BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of BioNTech to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of BioNTech from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of BioNTech from $143.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BioNTech currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.44.

BioNTech Stock Up 1.3%

BNTX opened at $92.14 on Thursday. 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 $94.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.85. BioNTech has a twelve month low of $79.52 and a twelve month high of $124.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 1.36.

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

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

Insider Transactions at BioNTech

In related news, COO Sierk Poetting sold 50,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 399,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,156,226.72. The trade was a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 19.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BioNTech

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BioNTech by 91.3% in the third quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 397,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,217,000 after purchasing an additional 189,752 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of BioNTech by 36.7% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 205,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,217,000 after purchasing an additional 55,004 shares during the period. LBP AM SA boosted its position in shares of BioNTech by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 368,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,089,000 after purchasing an additional 15,255 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of BioNTech by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 88,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,457,000 after purchasing an additional 26,119 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BioNTech by 97.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 413,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,531,000 after purchasing an additional 203,700 shares during the period. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.