Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR)

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 6,929 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 933% compared to the average volume of 671 call options.

Insider Activity at Vir Biotechnology

In other Vir Biotechnology news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $137,219.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,312,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,431,135.32. This represents a 0.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,786 shares of company stock worth $170,172. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 606,804 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $42,135,000 after acquiring an additional 530,645 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 19,327.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 300,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 298,603 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the second quarter worth about $1,780,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 6,402.0% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 188,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 185,723 shares during the last quarter. 65.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Up 58.2 %

Shares of VIR stock opened at $12.48 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -3.18 and a beta of 0.51. Vir Biotechnology has a 12 month low of $6.56 and a 12 month high of $14.45.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $2.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 36.71% and a negative net margin of 678.40%. Vir Biotechnology’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.22) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VIR. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vir Biotechnology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.40.

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).