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

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 6,039 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 3,651% compared to the average daily volume of 161 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vir Biotechnology

In other Vir Biotechnology news, Director Janet Napolitano sold 12,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.80, for a total transaction of $95,082.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,604.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vir Biotechnology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Vir Biotechnology during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares in the last quarter. 65.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Vir Biotechnology in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.80.

Vir Biotechnology Trading Up 16.6 %

Shares of VIR stock traded up $1.24 on Friday, reaching $8.73. 3,532,439 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,004,267. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.86. Vir Biotechnology has a 52 week low of $7.12 and a 52 week high of $13.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 0.46.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.96) by ($0.60). Vir Biotechnology had a negative return on equity of 30.93% and a negative net margin of 612.40%. The company had revenue of $2.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.22) earnings per share. Vir Biotechnology’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vir Biotechnology will post -3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vir Biotechnology Company Profile

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).