Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Trading Down 5.5%

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)’s share price was down 5.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $9.79 and last traded at $9.79. Approximately 272,073 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,048,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.14.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.94.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.51. The business 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 32.58%. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.06) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Saira Ramasastry sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.95, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,078.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 72,995 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 678,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,418,203.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Saira Ramasastry sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.95, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,078.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,714 shares of company stock valued at $820,997. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vir Biotechnology by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,297,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,473 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,214,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vir Biotechnology by 68.5% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 525,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,922,000 after acquiring an additional 213,477 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its position in Vir Biotechnology by 1,975.0% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 207,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after acquiring an additional 197,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 268.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 212,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,142,000 after buying an additional 155,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

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.