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

BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the February 29th total of 2,920,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 689,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BNTX. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on BioNTech from $127.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BioNTech from $110.00 to $101.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BioNTech from $99.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of BioNTech in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their target price on BioNTech from $133.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.40.

Institutional Trading of BioNTech

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNTX. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in BioNTech by 207.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in BioNTech by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 182,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,301,000 after purchasing an additional 26,777 shares during the period. Investmentaktiengesellschaft Fuer Langfristige Investoren TGV lifted its position in shares of BioNTech by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Investmentaktiengesellschaft Fuer Langfristige Investoren TGV now owns 14,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of BioNTech in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of BioNTech by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 62,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.52% of the company’s stock.

BioNTech Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of BNTX stock opened at $90.78 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 9.43 and a quick ratio of 9.26. BioNTech has a 1-year low of $85.21 and a 1-year high of $131.52. The firm has a market cap of $21.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03 and a beta of 0.23.

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.