BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 1,344,176 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 1,058,182 shares.The stock last traded at $88.79 and had previously closed at $86.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BNTX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on BioNTech from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, June 1st. Berenberg Bank reduced their target price on BioNTech from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on BioNTech from $116.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.56.

BioNTech Trading Up 2.8%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.57. The company has a current ratio of 8.80, a quick ratio of 8.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.08 and a beta of 1.32.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter. BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 5.30% and a negative net margin of 44.39%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -4.66 EPS for the current year.

BioNTech declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at BioNTech

In other news, COO Sierk Poetting sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 399,387 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 19.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BNTX. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 315.7% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,647,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,676,000 after buying an additional 2,769,654 shares during the last quarter. GSK plc acquired a new position in shares of BioNTech during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,711,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,578,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,235,000 after buying an additional 474,796 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 116.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 839,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,658,000 after buying an additional 451,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 344.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 573,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,544,000 after buying an additional 444,332 shares during the last quarter. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.