Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.18, but opened at $10.13. Vir Biotechnology shares last traded at $10.21, with a volume of 527,255 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.51. Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 34.92% and a negative net margin of 713.69%. The company had revenue of $56.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.06) EPS. Vir Biotechnology's revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VIR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.63.

Insider Activity at Vir Biotechnology

In other news, CFO Sung Lee sold 6,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total value of $59,419.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 100,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,865.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Backer Marianne De sold 72,995 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total value of $690,532.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,418,203.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sung Lee sold 6,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.89, for a total transaction of $59,419.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,492 shares in the company, valued at $993,865.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,831 shares of company stock worth $1,525,844 over the last three months. 15.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,297,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,473 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,214,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 124.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 412,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,863,000 after buying an additional 228,634 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Vir Biotechnology by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 525,317 shares of the company's stock worth $4,922,000 after acquiring an additional 213,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Vir Biotechnology by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 708,257 shares of the company's stock worth $6,636,000 after acquiring an additional 205,913 shares during the period. 65.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vir Biotechnology Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.59.

About Vir Biotechnology

Vir Biotechnology, Inc, a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It offers tobevibart + elebsiran for the treatment of chronic hepatitis delta; elebsiran + PEG-IFN-a, tobevibart ± elebsiran ± PEG-IFN-a, and elebsiran+ TLR8+PD-1 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; VIR-1388 and Cure mAb combination for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus; VIR-8190 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus / human metapneumovirus; VIR-2981 for the treatment of influenza; VIR-1949 for the treatment of pre-cancerous HPV lesions; and VIR07229 and Sotrovimab for the treatment of COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand.