Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Stock Price Up 6.3% – Should You Buy?

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)’s share price traded up 6.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $11.23 and last traded at $11.19. 759,002 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,620,427 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.83.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.44.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.51). The business 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 36.71% and a negative net margin of 678.40%. Vir Biotechnology’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vir Biotechnology

In other Vir Biotechnology news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,312,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,431,135.32. This trade represents a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,786 shares of company stock worth $170,172. 15.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 143.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vir Biotechnology in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 136.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 5,177 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the third quarter valued at about $118,000. Institutional investors own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

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).