Federated Hermes Inc. Lowers Position in Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) by 87.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,621 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,630 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Vir Biotechnology were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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. Barclays PLC grew its position in Vir Biotechnology by 1.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 550,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,121,000 after acquiring an additional 7,287 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 136.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 5,177 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc acquired a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the fourth quarter worth $2,666,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIR has been the topic of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.57.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

VIR stock opened at $5.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.11. Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.95 and a 1-year high of $14.45. The firm has a market cap of $754.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $12.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.14 million. As a group, analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director George A. Scangos sold 10,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.81, for a total transaction of $107,556.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 708,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,948,373.95. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 79,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total value of $474,286.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 769,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,554.75. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,611 shares of company stock valued at $663,525. Insiders own 15.60% 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).