BlackRock Inc. Acquires 1,062,036 Shares of Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Rating) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,873,726 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,062,036 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned about 10.42% of Vir Biotechnology worth $267,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the first quarter valued at approximately $197,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 11,534 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 64,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,666,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 91.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 612,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,749,000 after buying an additional 291,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 40.3% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 43,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 12,499 shares during the period. 74.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of VIR stock opened at $22.61 on Monday. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.05 and a 12-month high of $31.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.58. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.26.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.72). The firm had revenue of $49.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.24 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.92 earnings per share. Vir Biotechnology’s quarterly revenue was down 93.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on VIR shares. SVB Leerink dropped their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Vir Biotechnology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $125.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 17,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.59, for a total transaction of $405,151.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,327,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,984,249.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 17,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.59, for a total transaction of $405,151.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,327,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,984,249.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Endurance (Cayman) Ltd Svf sold 95,144 shares of Vir Biotechnology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.07, for a total value of $2,480,404.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,390,635 shares in the company, valued at $531,583,854.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,447,050 shares of company stock valued at $39,236,135. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vir Biotechnology Profile

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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.