BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $111.40, but opened at $102.34. BioNTech shares last traded at $103.28, with a volume of 1,295,818 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BNTX. Citigroup reduced 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. Wall Street Zen cut BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of BioNTech in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $142.00 price objective on BioNTech in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on BioNTech from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.81.

BioNTech Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.06 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’s 50-day moving average is $95.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.85.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) 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 firm had revenue of $122.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.60) earnings per share. BioNTech’s quarterly revenue was down 59.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BioNTech announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioNTech

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new position in shares of BioNTech in the 2nd quarter valued at $207,142,000. GSK plc acquired a new stake in BioNTech in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,711,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in BioNTech by 43.0% in 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 last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in BioNTech by 116.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 839,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,658,000 after acquiring an additional 451,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 444,332 shares in the last quarter. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.