BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, an increase of 29.6% from the September 30th total of 1,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 975,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioNTech

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BioNTech by 207.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BioNTech during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BioNTech during the 1st quarter worth approximately $242,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BioNTech in the 1st quarter worth approximately $602,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in BioNTech by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 117,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after purchasing an additional 9,013 shares in the last quarter. 15.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BNTX. Bank of America increased their price objective on BioNTech from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded BioNTech from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on BioNTech from $85.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on BioNTech from $95.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BioNTech currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.54.

BioNTech Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BNTX opened at $110.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 7.54 and a quick ratio of 7.40. The firm has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 220.96 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $107.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.98. BioNTech has a 1-year low of $76.53 and a 1-year high of $131.49.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($3.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.02) by ($1.34). BioNTech had a negative return on equity of 2.54% and a negative net margin of 18.69%. The firm had revenue of $128.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.86) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BioNTech will post -3.04 EPS for the current year.

BioNTech Company Profile

BioNTech SE, a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes immunotherapies for cancer and other infectious diseases. The company is developing FixVac product candidates, including BNT111, which is in Phase II clinical trial for advance melanoma; BNT112 that is in Phase I/IIa clinical trial for prostate cancer; BNT113, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat HPV 16+ head and neck cancers; BNT114 to treat triple negative breast cancer; BNT115, which is in Phase I clinical trial in ovarian cancer; and BNT116, which is in Phase I clinical trial for non-small cell lung cancer.