Vir Biotechnology’s (VIR) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $110.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $34.14.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Down 6.3 %

VIR stock opened at $11.23 on Wednesday. Vir Biotechnology has a twelve month low of $7.61 and a twelve month high of $27.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.80 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.91.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.51. The company had revenue of $56.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.71 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 677.69% and a negative return on equity of 32.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.06) EPS. Research analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.42 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 72,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total transaction of $690,532.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,418,203.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vir Biotechnology news, EVP Ann M. Hanly sold 2,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total value of $27,245.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 132,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,327,293.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 72,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total value of $690,532.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,457 shares in the company, valued at $6,418,203.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,714 shares of company stock worth $777,197 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 1,975.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 207,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 197,500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 412,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 228,634 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 582.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 162,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 138,387 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Vir Biotechnology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,098,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 9.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,200,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,950,000 after purchasing an additional 960,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Vir Biotechnology Company Profile

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.