Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR)

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $15.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on VIR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $33.57.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Up 13.2 %

Shares of VIR stock opened at $10.39 on Friday. Vir Biotechnology has a twelve month low of $7.61 and a twelve month high of $27.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.59 and a beta of 0.47.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $56.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.71 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 677.69% and a negative return on equity of 31.89%. Vir Biotechnology’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.06) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vir Biotechnology

In related news, EVP Phillip Pang sold 3,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.24, for a total value of $34,007.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,710,312.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director George A. Scangos sold 17,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.65, for a total transaction of $206,461.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 112,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,316,321.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Phillip Pang sold 3,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.24, for a total transaction of $34,007.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,312.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,831 shares of company stock worth $1,525,844. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 249.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 274.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Vir Biotechnology by 258.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 69.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. 65.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology, Inc, a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It offers tobevibart + elebsiran for the treatment of chronic hepatitis delta; elebsiran + PEG-IFN-a, tobevibart ± elebsiran ± PEG-IFN-a, and elebsiran+ TLR8+PD-1 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; VIR-1388 and Cure mAb combination for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus; VIR-8190 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus / human metapneumovirus; VIR-2981 for the treatment of influenza; VIR-1949 for the treatment of pre-cancerous HPV lesions; and VIR07229 and Sotrovimab for the treatment of COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand.