Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.25.

VIR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Brent Sabatini sold 7,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.12, for a total transaction of $70,324.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 61,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $564,546.24. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $221,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,078,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,837,829.55. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,270 shares of company stock worth $1,364,825. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 965,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,654,000 after buying an additional 34,906 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 47.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 54,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 17,732 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the 1st quarter valued at about $24,593,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 15,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 5,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 223.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 15,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 10,603 shares in the last quarter. 65.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

VIR stock opened at $9.10 on Thursday. Vir Biotechnology has a one year low of $4.16 and a one year high of $11.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.70.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.84). Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 53.31% and a negative net margin of 638.88%.The company had revenue of ($0.03) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.88) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology will post -1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology, Inc is a clinical?stage immunology company dedicated to developing therapies that prevent and treat serious infectious diseases. The company leverages a suite of proprietary technology platforms—ranging from antibody isolation and screening tools to cell?based assays and bioinformatics—to identify and advance antiviral and antibacterial candidates. Its scientific approach centers on harnessing the human immune system through monoclonal antibodies and immunomodulatory agents.

The company’s pipeline includes product candidates targeting influenza A, COVID?19, HIV, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.