Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Issues Earnings Results

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.09, Zacks reports. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 36.71% and a negative net margin of 678.40%.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Up 1.1 %

VIR stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.20. 843,868 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,533,510. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.49. Vir Biotechnology has a 52 week low of $6.56 and a 52 week high of $14.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 0.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VIR. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays reduced 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. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $10.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vir Biotechnology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $137,219.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,312,391 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George A. Scangos sold 10,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.81, for a total transaction of $107,556.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 708,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,948,373.95. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,562 shares of company stock valued at $259,693. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

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).