BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Shares Down 5.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• BioNTech shares fell 5.5% to about $90.53 in mid-day trading, with volume roughly 53% below the average session volume.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of $2.53 per share, missing estimates by $0.13, while revenue of $122.31 million declined 59.5% year over year and fell short of forecasts.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $125.69, although recent ratings included downgrades; CEO Ugur Sahin also sold 72,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) shares were down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $91.04 and last traded at $90.5320. 507,358 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,086,653 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on BNTX shares. Berenberg Bank set a $140.00 price target on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Argus started coverage on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BioNTech from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of BioNTech from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of BioNTech from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $125.69.

BioNTech Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.29. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.51 and a beta of 1.25.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 63.54% and a negative return on equity of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $122.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.60) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 59.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -6.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BioNTech

In related news, CEO Ugur Sahin sold 72,000 shares of BioNTech stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.23, for a total value of $7,000,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,209 shares in the company, valued at $10,521,161.07. This trade represents a 39.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 807,209 shares of company stock valued at $79,246,837. Company insiders own 19.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in shares of BioNTech during the second quarter valued at $207,142,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position 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 during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in BioNTech by 116.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 839,991 shares of the company's stock worth $74,658,000 after acquiring an additional 451,124 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in BioNTech in the 2nd quarter worth $39,385,000. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in BioNTech in the 1st quarter worth $17,804,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.52% of the company's stock.

About BioNTech

BioNTech SE is a biotechnology company headquartered in Mainz, Germany, focused on developing therapies and vaccines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company's research platform includes messenger RNA (mRNA), individualized cancer vaccines, immune-modulating therapies, cell therapies, and protein-based therapeutics.

BioNTech is best known for developing the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer. Comirnaty uses mRNA technology to help stimulate an immune response against COVID-19 and has been distributed in markets around the world.

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