Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Shares Up 8.1% – Should You Buy?

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)’s share price shot up 8.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.64 and last traded at $10.7110. 393,240 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 2,446,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on VIR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $25.00 target price on Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vir Biotechnology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.57.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.96 and a beta of 1.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.26.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.14. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 29.99% and a negative net margin of 638.88%.The company had revenue of $238.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.80) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19582.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -1.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vir Biotechnology

In related news, Director Janet Napolitano sold 3,200 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $30,240.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,216 shares in the company, valued at $200,491.20. The trade was a 13.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter worth $210,712,000. ARCH Venture Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,353,521,000. GSK plc bought a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,562,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,229,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,564,000 after purchasing an additional 988,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,593,000. 65.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology, Inc is a clinical‐stage immunology company dedicated to developing therapies that prevent and treat serious infectious diseases. The company leverages a suite of proprietary technology platforms—ranging from antibody isolation and screening tools to cell‐based assays and bioinformatics—to identify and advance antiviral and antibacterial candidates. Its scientific approach centers on harnessing the human immune system through monoclonal antibodies and immunomodulatory agents.

The company’s pipeline includes product candidates targeting influenza A, COVID‐19, HIV, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.