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

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 6,929 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 933% compared to the average volume of 671 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VIR shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.80.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Up 58.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIR opened at $12.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.34. 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 1-year low of $6.56 and a 1-year high of $14.45.

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

Insider Activity

In other Vir Biotechnology news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $137,219.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,312,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,431,135.32. The trade was a 0.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 14,786 shares of company stock valued at $170,172 over the last three months. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 813,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 6,359 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 9,817 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 19,216 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 142.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 7,452 shares during the last quarter. 65.32% of the stock is owned by 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).