Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Position in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its stake in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,732 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Vir Biotechnology were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VIR. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 81,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 15,696 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 171.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 21,760 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $191,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vir Biotechnology by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,134,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,496,000 after acquiring an additional 136,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valence8 US LP acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday, February 28th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vir Biotechnology

In other news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of Vir Biotechnology 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,312,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,431,135.32. The trade was a 0.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Verneuil Vanina De sold 7,373 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total transaction of $67,389.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $726,264.40. This trade represents a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,859 shares of company stock valued at $326,458 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of VIR stock opened at $7.15 on Friday. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.56 and a 52 week high of $14.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $980.57 million, a PE ratio of -1.82 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.43.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.76) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.14 million. Analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vir Biotechnology Profile

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).