Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Purchases Shares of 918,529 Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 918,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.67% of Vir Biotechnology at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VIR. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Vir Biotechnology by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 202,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 50,199 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 13.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,134,276 shares of the company's stock worth $8,496,000 after purchasing an additional 136,087 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,625,533 shares of the company's stock worth $42,135,000 after buying an additional 530,645 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,737,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc bought a new stake in Vir Biotechnology during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,666,000. Institutional investors own 65.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.67.

Insider Activity at Vir Biotechnology

In other news, Director George A. Scangos sold 10,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.81, for a total value of $107,556.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 708,295 shares in the company, valued at $6,948,373.95. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,312,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,431,135.32. This represents a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,859 shares of company stock valued at $326,458 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company's stock.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

NASDAQ VIR traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 335,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,130. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.08 and a fifty-two week high of $14.45. The company has a market cap of $891.43 million, a PE ratio of -1.65 and a beta of 1.17. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $8.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.33.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.09. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 678.40% and a negative return on equity of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $12.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.14 million. Analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).