Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.34, but opened at $9.00. Vir Biotechnology shares last traded at $8.8070, with a volume of 436,770 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vir Biotechnology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.88.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.78 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.85.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.84). Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 53.31% and a negative net margin of 638.88%.The business had revenue of ($0.03) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.88) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology, Inc. will post -1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Janet Napolitano sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total value of $30,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,491.20. This represents a 13.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total transaction of $221,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,078,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,837,829.55. The trade was a 2.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,579 shares of company stock worth $254,922 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vir Biotechnology

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIR. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Vir Biotechnology during the second quarter worth about $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 1,418.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 6,597 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Finally, Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P acquired a new position in Vir Biotechnology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 65.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology, Inc is a clinical‐stage immunology company dedicated to developing therapies that prevent and treat serious infectious diseases. The company leverages a suite of proprietary technology platforms—ranging from antibody isolation and screening tools to cell‐based assays and bioinformatics—to identify and advance antiviral and antibacterial candidates. Its scientific approach centers on harnessing the human immune system through monoclonal antibodies and immunomodulatory agents.

The company’s pipeline includes product candidates targeting influenza A, COVID‐19, HIV, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.