Ugur Sahin Sells 31,500 Shares of BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Stock

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) CEO Ugur Sahin sold 31,500 shares of BioNTech stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.52, for a total transaction of $3,260,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 781,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,922,515.68. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ugur Sahin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, September 9th, Ugur Sahin sold 36,000 shares of BioNTech stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.78, for a total transaction of $3,520,080.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, Ugur Sahin sold 37,000 shares of BioNTech stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $3,670,400.00.
• On Thursday, September 3rd, Ugur Sahin sold 45,000 shares of BioNTech stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.85, for a total value of $4,628,250.00.

BioNTech Stock Performance

Shares of BNTX stock opened at $98.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of -12.53 and a beta of 1.29. BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR has a 52-week low of $79.52 and a 52-week high of $124.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $97.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.46. The company has a quick ratio of 7.80, a current ratio of 7.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.40) by ($0.13). BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 6.86% and a negative net margin of 63.54%.The company had revenue of $122.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.60) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 59.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -6.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BNTX shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of BioNTech from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of BioNTech from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BioNTech from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BioNTech currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioNTech

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of BioNTech by 86.4% during the 4th 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 stake in shares of BioNTech in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in BioNTech in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in BioNTech by 118.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 563 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioNTech News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BioNTech this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst views remain broadly favorable despite some disagreement. BioNTech has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $126, above recent trading levels, with several firms maintaining Buy ratings. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Healthcare Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Ugur Sahin’s recent transactions were made under pre-arranged trading plans rather than in response to newly disclosed business developments. Institutional ownership also remains present, with several large investors increasing their positions, though institutional investors hold only about 15.5% of the stock. BioNTech SEC Form 4 Filing
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets downgraded BioNTech from “outperform” to “market perform” and cut its price target from $128 to $105. The reduced target narrows the perceived upside and is the clearest immediate explanation for the stock’s decline. BioNTech Shares Fall After BMO Downgrade and Price Target Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Sahin sold a combined 149,500 shares from September 3 through September 9 for approximately $15.1 million, reducing his holdings in successive transactions. Although the trades were planned in advance, repeated CEO selling can create an overhang and reinforce cautious investor sentiment. BioNTech CEO Insider Selling

About BioNTech

BioNTech SE is a biotechnology company focused on developing immunotherapies and vaccines for cancer and other serious diseases. Its research platforms include messenger RNA, cell therapies, protein-based therapeutics, antibody therapies and small-molecule immunomodulators.

The company is best known for Comirnaty, its COVID-19 vaccine developed and commercialized globally in collaboration with Pfizer. BioNTech is also advancing a broad oncology pipeline that includes individualized and off-the-shelf cancer vaccines, antibody-based treatments, cell therapies and combination approaches designed to stimulate or direct the immune system against tumors.

BioNTech was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Mainz, Germany.