Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 22nd, 2023

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $15.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Vir Biotechnology traded as low as $13.16 and last traded at $13.41, with a volume of 3057591 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.05.

VIR has been the subject of a number of other reports. SVB Securities cut their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $43.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $51.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $32.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TheStreet lowered Vir Biotechnology from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Vir Biotechnology from $59.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven J. Rice sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.67, for a total value of $64,175.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,840 shares in the company, valued at $2,742,582.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Vir Biotechnology news, insider Steven J. Rice sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.67, for a total transaction of $64,175.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,840 shares in the company, valued at $2,742,582.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total value of $443,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,315,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,436,555.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 689,064 shares of company stock worth $17,886,204. Corporate insiders own 18.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 87,228.6% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 32,002,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,020,000 after buying an additional 31,965,794 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 21.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,928,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,420,000 after buying an additional 1,731,172 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 65.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,193,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,864,000 after buying an additional 1,665,657 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 538,818.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,099,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,826,000 after buying an additional 1,099,190 shares during the period. Finally, Avidity Partners Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the fourth quarter worth about $21,514,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.37% of the company’s stock.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Up 13.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of -13.05 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.02.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.86) by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $63.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.10 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 94.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vir Biotechnology

(Get Free Report)

Vir Biotechnology, Inc, a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It develops Sotrovimab (VIR-7832), a SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing mAbs to treat and prevent COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand; VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 for the treatment of hepatitis B virus; VIR-2482 for the prevention of influenza A virus; and VIR-1111 for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus.