Leerink Partners Issues Positive Forecast for Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Stock Price

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Leerink Partners from $18.00 to $20.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ target price suggests a potential upside of 95.50% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VIR. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.83.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of VIR opened at $10.23 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.27 and its 200 day moving average is $8.37. Vir Biotechnology has a 12-month low of $6.56 and a 12-month high of $14.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -2.61 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vir Biotechnology

In other Vir Biotechnology news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $16,431,135.32. This trade represents a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,786 shares of company stock valued at $170,172. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,248,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,108,000 after purchasing an additional 606,804 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 10.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 19,327.1% in the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter worth $1,780,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 6,402.0% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

About Vir Biotechnology

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).