BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on BioNTech from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised BioNTech to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on BioNTech from $116.00 to $94.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.60.

BioNTech Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:BNTX opened at $94.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $96.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 7.49 and a current ratio of 8.80. BioNTech has a 1 year low of $79.52 and a 1 year high of $124.00.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter. BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 5.30% and a negative net margin of 44.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioNTech will post -4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Sierk Poetting sold 50,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 399,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,156,226.72. This represents a 11.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Investors Weigh In On BioNTech

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNTX. Dodge & Cox grew its position in BioNTech by 315.7% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,647,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $359,676,000 after acquiring an additional 2,769,654 shares during the period. GSK plc purchased a new stake in BioNTech during the fourth quarter valued at about $84,711,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in BioNTech by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,578,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,235,000 after acquiring an additional 474,796 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in BioNTech by 344.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 573,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,544,000 after acquiring an additional 444,332 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BioNTech during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,656,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.52% of the company's stock.

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.

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