Point72 Asset Management L.P. Trims Position in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) by 45.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,900 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Vir Biotechnology were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,297,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,709,000 after buying an additional 1,096,473 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 94.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,248,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,108,000 after acquiring an additional 606,804 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 19,327.1% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 300,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,671,000 after purchasing an additional 298,603 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology in the second quarter valued at about $1,780,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 6,402.0% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 188,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 185,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Janet Napolitano sold 12,190 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.80, for a total transaction of $95,082.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,616 shares in the company, valued at $90,604.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VIR. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.80.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

VIR opened at $7.74 on Friday. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.12 and a 1-year high of $13.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.93 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.15.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $3.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 612.40% and a negative return on equity of 30.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. Research analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vir Biotechnology 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).