Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 153.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on VIR. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.80.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

Shares of VIR stock opened at $7.49 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of -2.09 and a beta of 0.46. Vir Biotechnology has a 1 year low of $7.12 and a 1 year high of $13.09.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.96) by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $2.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 30.93% and a negative net margin of 612.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vir Biotechnology news, Director Janet Napolitano sold 12,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.80, for a total value of $95,082.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,604.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 15.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIR. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 74,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 8.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 26,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 143.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351 shares during the period. 65.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).