Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Stock Price Down 6.5% – What’s Next?

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) shares were down 6.5% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $10.73 and last traded at $10.7750. 457,490 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,420,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VIR. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered Vir Biotechnology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Vir Biotechnology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Down 6.6%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.80 and a beta of 1.59.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $238.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.88 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19582.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.80) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIR. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 16,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 2,668 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 13.6% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 32,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 3,836 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 18.9% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 19.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 4,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Vir Biotechnology Company Profile

Vir Biotechnology, Inc is a clinical-stage immunology company focused on developing treatments and preventive therapies for serious infectious diseases. The company uses immunologic insights, antibody technology, cellular approaches and other scientific platforms to address diseases in which the immune system plays a central role.

Vir’s research and development programs have included therapies for chronic hepatitis B, influenza, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and COVID-19. Its pipeline has included investigational antibody and immunomodulatory candidates such as tobevibart and elebsiran for hepatitis B, as well as programs designed to prevent or treat other viral infections.