BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) CEO Ugur Sahin Sells 36,000 Shares

BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) CEO Ugur Sahin sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.78, for a total transaction of $3,520,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 708,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,297,566.02. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 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 transaction of $3,670,400.00.
• On Friday, September 4th, Ugur Sahin sold 31,500 shares of BioNTech stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.52, for a total transaction of $3,260,880.00.
• 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 transaction of $4,628,250.00.

BioNTech Stock Down 0.5%

BioNTech stock opened at $98.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.53 and a beta of 1.29. BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR has a 1-year low of $79.52 and a 1-year high of $124.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.46. The company has a current ratio of 7.85, a quick ratio of 7.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($2.53) earnings per share (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 business 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. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 59.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR will post -6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More BioNTech News

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioNTech

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BNTX. Larson Financial Group LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. EFG International AG bought a new stake in BioNTech in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of BioNTech by 520.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BioNTech in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BioNTech in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on BioNTech from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on BioNTech from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised BioNTech from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioNTech currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

BioNTech Company Profile

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.