BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $92.75, but opened at $109.29. BioNTech shares last traded at $115.4230, with a volume of 2,410,449 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BNTX. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group upgraded BioNTech from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on BioNTech from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.81.

BioNTech Stock Up 20.1%

The firm has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of -14.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 7.85 and a quick ratio of 7.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.69.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.40) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.18 million. BioNTech had a negative net margin of 63.54% and a negative return on equity of 6.86%. The business’s revenue was down 59.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.60) earnings per share. Analysts expect that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BioNTech declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioNTech

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BioNTech by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in BioNTech by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in BioNTech by 520.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in BioNTech by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 28,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. 15.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.