abrdn plc Acquires New Stake in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

abrdn plc bought a new position in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 363,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,666,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 48,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 3,605 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 27.8% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 57,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 12,511 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the third quarter worth about $56,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 143.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 10,294 shares in the last quarter. 65.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, January 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.83.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Down 3.8 %

VIR opened at $9.84 on Monday. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.56 and a 12-month high of $14.45. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $137,219.20. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

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).