Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR)

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 6,929 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 933% compared to the average daily volume of 671 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vir Biotechnology news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 10,960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $137,219.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,312,391 shares in the company, valued at $16,431,135.32. This trade represents a 0.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 14,786 shares of company stock valued at $170,172 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIR. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Vir Biotechnology by 143.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vir Biotechnology in the third quarter worth $56,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the second quarter worth $95,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 142.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 7,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the third quarter valued at about $118,000. Institutional investors own 65.32% of the company’s stock.

Vir Biotechnology Price Performance

VIR opened at $12.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.34. Vir Biotechnology has a fifty-two week low of $6.56 and a fifty-two week high of $14.45.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 million. Vir Biotechnology had a negative net margin of 678.40% and a negative return on equity of 36.71%. The business’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.22) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on VIR shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Vir Biotechnology from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Vir Biotechnology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vir Biotechnology from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.80.

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).