Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Shares Down 8.4% After Insider Selling

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)’s share price dropped 8.4% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $8.47 and last traded at $8.43. Approximately 985,718 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 2,490,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.20.

Specifically, EVP Verneuil Vanina De sold 7,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total transaction of $67,389.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $726,264.40. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.67.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 0.63.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.09. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 36.71% and a negative net margin of 678.40%. The business had revenue of $12.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.14 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 10.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,625,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,135,000 after acquiring an additional 530,645 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,196,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,127,000 after buying an additional 7,827 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,915,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,059,000 after buying an additional 703,360 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,715,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,589,000 after buying an additional 610,367 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,194,000 after buying an additional 118,379 shares during the period. 65.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vir Biotechnology Company Profile

Vir Biotechnology, Inc, an immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. Its clinical development pipeline consists of product candidates targeting hepatitis delta virus (HDV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The company’s preclinical candidates include those targeting influenza A and B, coronavirus disease 2019, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (MPV), and human papillomavirus (HPV).