Vicki L. Sato Sells 10,960 Shares of Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) Stock

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,312,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,431,135.32. The trade was a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Up 58.2 %

NASDAQ VIR opened at $12.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.18 and a beta of 0.51. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.56 and a 52 week high of $14.45.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.22) earnings per share. Vir Biotechnology’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 550,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,121,000 after purchasing an additional 7,287 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 10.4% during 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 last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 901.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 15,303 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 10.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 350,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,623,000 after buying an additional 33,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Vir Biotechnology in the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. 65.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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).