First Trust Advisors LP Buys 451,124 Shares of BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR $BNTX

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) by 116.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 839,991 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 451,124 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in BioNTech were worth $74,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BNTX. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in BioNTech by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of BioNTech in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of BioNTech by 520.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in BioNTech by 118.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 563 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in BioNTech during the 4th quarter worth approximately $153,000. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BNTX shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, April 27th. Berenberg Bank dropped their price target on BioNTech from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group raised BioNTech from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.12.

BioNTech Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:BNTX opened at $89.33 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.67. BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR has a one year low of $79.52 and a one year high of $124.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 8.80 and a quick ratio of 8.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a PE ratio of -15.19 and a beta of 1.32.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($2.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.52) by $0.26. The company had revenue of $136.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.42 million. BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 5.30% and a negative net margin of 44.39%.BioNTech’s revenue for the quarter was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.73) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BioNTech declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

BioNTech Company Profile

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.