Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $9.18, but opened at $10.13. Vir Biotechnology shares last traded at $10.21, with a volume of 527,255 shares.

The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.51. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 31.89% and a negative net margin of 677.69%. The firm had revenue of $56.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.06) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VIR shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.63.

Insider Transactions at Vir Biotechnology

In other news, EVP Ann M. Hanly sold 2,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total value of $27,245.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 132,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,327,293.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Ann M. Hanly sold 2,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $27,245.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 132,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,327,293.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Phillip Pang sold 3,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.24, for a total value of $34,007.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,710,312.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,831 shares of company stock valued at $1,525,844 over the last ninety days. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIR. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 249.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 274.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 96.4% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 258.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 69.3% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613 shares during the period. 65.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.59 and a beta of 0.47.

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.