BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) to Buyback $1.00 billion in Shares

Key Points

• BioNTech's board approved a $1.0 billion share buyback program, authorizing repurchases of up to 4.2% of its outstanding stock through open-market purchases.
• The stock traded near $93.02 midday with a market cap of about $23.5 billion; the company reported quarterly EPS of ($0.39) on $1.06 billion revenue and has negative margins. Analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a mean price target of $131.60.
• COO Sierk Poetting sold 50,000 shares for roughly $5.53 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by about 11.1%.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 7th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

BioNTech Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BNTX traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $93.02. 1,118,521 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 978,302. BioNTech has a twelve month low of $79.52 and a twelve month high of $124.00. The company has a current ratio of 8.80, a quick ratio of 7.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.91. The stock has a market cap of $23.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.82 and a beta of 1.36.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BioNTech had a negative net margin of 44.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.30%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that BioNTech will post -4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BioNTech from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on BioNTech from $143.00 to $128.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of BioNTech in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued 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, BioNTech presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Sierk Poetting sold 50,000 shares of BioNTech stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was 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 owned 399,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,156,226.72. This trade represents a 11.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 19.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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