BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Overweight”

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $145.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $93.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.26% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on BNTX. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BioNTech from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BioNTech from $95.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on BioNTech from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded BioNTech from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.15.

BioNTech Stock Performance

BNTX opened at $113.05 on Tuesday. BioNTech has a 1-year low of $76.53 and a 1-year high of $131.49. The stock has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 226.10 and a beta of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 7.54 and a quick ratio of 7.40.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($3.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.02) by ($1.34). BioNTech had a negative net margin of 18.69% and a negative return on equity of 2.54%. The firm had revenue of $128.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.98 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.86) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BioNTech will post -2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BNTX. Harding Loevner LP purchased a new stake in BioNTech in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $410,984,000. Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 261.2% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 578,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,526,000 after buying an additional 418,695 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 283.5% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 461,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,103,000 after buying an additional 341,311 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of BioNTech by 610.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 70,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,471,000 after buying an additional 60,270 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. acquired a new position in BioNTech in the fourth quarter valued at $5,277,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.52% of the company’s stock.

About BioNTech

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.