Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 52,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VIR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 2.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 43,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 813,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 6,359 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 3,215 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Vir Biotechnology during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after acquiring an additional 9,817 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VIR. Needham & Company LLC reissued 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 set a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vir Biotechnology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.40.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

Vir Biotechnology stock opened at $7.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.90 and a beta of 0.49. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.56 and a fifty-two week high of $13.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.67.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 36.71% and a negative net margin of 678.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.22) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

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).