BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) Shares Acquired by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 506,692 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,566 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in BioNTech were worth $53,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of BioNTech during the fourth quarter worth $1,445,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in BioNTech by 3,881.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 16,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after acquiring an additional 16,224 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in BioNTech by 123.1% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 158,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,264,000 after acquiring an additional 87,686 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BioNTech during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $938,000. Finally, abrdn plc acquired a new stake in shares of BioNTech during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,961,000. 15.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioNTech Stock Performance

Shares of BNTX stock opened at $102.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 11.38, a quick ratio of 11.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. BioNTech SE has a 1-year low of $85.21 and a 1-year high of $125.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.89. The company has a market capitalization of $24.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 204.60 and a beta of 0.25.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.59). BioNTech had a return on equity of 0.55% and a net margin of 4.01%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BioNTech SE will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BNTX. TD Cowen upped their price objective on BioNTech from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of BioNTech from $113.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of BioNTech in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. They set an “inline” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright raised their target price on BioNTech from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of BioNTech in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BioNTech currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.70.

BioNTech 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.