Leerink Partners Boosts Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Price Target to $20.00

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR - Free Report) had its target price upped by Leerink Partners from $18.00 to $20.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Leerink Partners currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on VIR. Morgan Stanley raised Vir Biotechnology from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.83.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

NASDAQ:VIR traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $10.52. The stock had a trading volume of 4,551,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,828,075. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 0.51. The business's 50 day moving average is $8.24 and its 200 day moving average is $8.35. Vir Biotechnology has a fifty-two week low of $6.56 and a fifty-two week high of $14.45.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 678.40% and a negative return on equity of 36.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.22) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $137,219.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,312,391 shares in the company, valued at $16,431,135.32. The trade was a 0.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,786 shares of company stock valued at $170,172. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIR. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,248,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,108,000 after purchasing an additional 606,804 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 10.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,625,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,135,000 after buying an additional 530,645 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 19,327.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 300,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,671,000 after buying an additional 298,603 shares during the period. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the second quarter worth $1,780,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 6,402.0% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 188,624 shares of the company's stock worth $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 185,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.32% of the company's stock.

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).