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

by · The Markets Daily

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by Leerink Partners from $18.00 to $20.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ target price suggests a potential upside of 86.74% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on VIR. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays decreased 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. 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 report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.83.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on VIR

Vir Biotechnology Stock Down 11.5 %

NASDAQ VIR traded down $1.39 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $10.71. 1,712,174 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,405,623. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.35. Vir Biotechnology has a 52-week low of $6.56 and a 52-week high of $14.45.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Free Report) last issued its 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). 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 analyst estimates of $5.54 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.22) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vir Biotechnology

In other news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,312,391 shares in the company, valued at $16,431,135.32. This represents a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 14,786 shares of company stock worth $170,172 in the last 90 days. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 13.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,134,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,496,000 after acquiring an additional 136,087 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 530,645 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vir Biotechnology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,780,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 180.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 19,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 12,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 94.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,248,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,108,000 after buying an additional 606,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

About Vir Biotechnology

(Get Free Report)

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).

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