Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Rating) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 488,864 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,118 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vir Biotechnology were worth $12,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 21.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,928,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,172 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 65.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,193,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665,657 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 538,818.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,099,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,190 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 8.3% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,873,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 168.9% during the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,512,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,161,000 after purchasing an additional 950,094 shares in the last quarter. 74.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 17,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.59, for a total transaction of $405,151.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,327,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,984,249.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vir Biotechnology news, CTO Ann M. Hanly sold 2,627 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.77, for a total value of $59,816.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 114,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,608,895.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 17,935 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.59, for a total transaction of $405,151.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,327,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,984,249.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 864,494 shares of company stock valued at $22,101,441 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 18.10% of the company’s stock.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ VIR opened at $25.77 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.43 and a beta of 0.26. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.05 and a 12-month high of $31.78.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.86) by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $63.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.93 earnings per share. Vir Biotechnology’s revenue was down 94.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. SVB Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $43.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.75.

Vir Biotechnology Profile

(Get Rating)

Vir Biotechnology, Inc, a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It develops Sotrovimab (VIR-7832), a SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing mAbs to treat and prevent COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand; VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 for the treatment of hepatitis B virus; VIR-2482 for the prevention of influenza A virus; and VIR-1111 for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus.