Vir Biotechnology’s (VIR) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $110.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Vir Biotechnology’s FY2029 earnings at $2.25 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.83.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

VIR opened at $10.40 on Friday. Vir Biotechnology has a 1 year low of $6.56 and a 1 year high of $14.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.65 and a beta of 0.51.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $2.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 36.71% and a negative net margin of 678.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.22) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $137,219.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,312,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,431,135.32. This represents a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,383 shares of company stock worth $160,070. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIR. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 40,300 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Vir Biotechnology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 447,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 15,902 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 202,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 50,199 shares in the last quarter. 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).