Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR)

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $15.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $33.57.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIR opened at $10.39 on Friday. Vir Biotechnology has a 1 year low of $7.61 and a 1 year high of $27.48. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.59 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.61.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.51. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 677.69% and a negative return on equity of 31.89%. The firm had revenue of $56.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.06) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vir Biotechnology will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 72,995 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total transaction of $690,532.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 678,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,418,203.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 72,995 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total value of $690,532.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,418,203.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sung Lee sold 6,008 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total value of $59,419.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,865.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 152,831 shares of company stock valued at $1,525,844. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 235,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after buying an additional 87,190 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,917 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Vir Biotechnology by 249.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares during the period. 65.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology, Inc, a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It offers tobevibart + elebsiran for the treatment of chronic hepatitis delta; elebsiran + PEG-IFN-a, tobevibart ± elebsiran ± PEG-IFN-a, and elebsiran+ TLR8+PD-1 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; VIR-1388 and Cure mAb combination for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus; VIR-8190 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus / human metapneumovirus; VIR-2981 for the treatment of influenza; VIR-1949 for the treatment of pre-cancerous HPV lesions; and VIR07229 and Sotrovimab for the treatment of COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand.