BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Stock Moved Up to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded BioNTech from “sell” to “hold.” Across analysts, the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $123.60.
• BioNTech’s latest quarter missed expectations: it reported a loss of $2.53 per share versus a $2.40 loss estimate, while revenue fell 59.5% year over year to $122.31 million.
• CEO Ugur Sahin sold 72,000 shares for about $7 million under a pre-arranged trading plan; insiders sold roughly $79.2 million in shares over the past 90 days.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Wednesday. Argus started coverage on shares of BioNTech in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded BioNTech from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BioNTech from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BioNTech has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.60.

BioNTech Stock Up 1.9%

BNTX stock opened at $87.51 on Friday. BioNTech has a twelve month low of $79.52 and a twelve month high of $124.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.70. The company has a current ratio of 7.85, a quick ratio of 7.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.78 and a beta of 1.28.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $122.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.60) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 59.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BioNTech will post -6.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ugur Sahin sold 72,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.23, for a total transaction of $7,000,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,521,161.07. The trade was a 39.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 807,209 shares of company stock worth $79,246,837. Company insiders own 19.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioNTech

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BNTX. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in BioNTech in the second quarter worth approximately $2,520,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of BioNTech by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 903,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,261,000 after acquiring an additional 166,432 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of BioNTech by 24.5% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 129,513 shares of the company's stock worth $11,511,000 after purchasing an additional 25,506 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in BioNTech by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 760,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,774,000 after purchasing an additional 337,412 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new position in BioNTech in the second quarter worth $207,142,000. 15.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BioNTech Company Profile

BioNTech SE is a biotechnology company headquartered in Mainz, Germany, focused on developing medicines and vaccines based on messenger RNA and other immunotherapy technologies. The company's research programs address cancer, infectious diseases, and other serious medical conditions.

BioNTech's oncology portfolio includes individualized and off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapies, including mRNA-based treatments, cell therapies, antibody-based therapies, and immune-modulating approaches. Its infectious-disease activities include vaccine programs developed through proprietary platforms and collaborations.

In collaboration with Pfizer, BioNTech developed Comirnaty, an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine.

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