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Morgan Stanley Upgrades Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR) to Equal Weight

Defense World ·  Jan 29, 2023 02:31

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Rating) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $30.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $18.00. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential downside of 2.76% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 4th. TheStreet upgraded Vir Biotechnology from a "d" rating to a "c-" rating in a research note on Monday, October 10th. Finally, SVB Leerink upped their price objective on Vir Biotechnology from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vir Biotechnology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.17.

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Vir Biotechnology Stock Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:VIR opened at $30.85 on Friday. Vir Biotechnology has a twelve month low of $18.05 and a twelve month high of $35.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.11. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.15.

Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $1.29. The firm had revenue of $374.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.79 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vir Biotechnology will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vir Biotechnology

In related news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 17,915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.38, for a total value of $490,512.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,399,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,304,729.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Vir Biotechnology news, major shareholder Endurance (Cayman) Ltd Svf sold 50,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.41, for a total transaction of $1,375,241.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,566,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,131,954.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 17,915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.38, for a total value of $490,512.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,399,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,304,729.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,316,352 shares of company stock worth $35,377,784. Company insiders own 22.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the 3rd quarter worth $635,000. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vir Biotechnology by 283.7% during the 2nd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 11,253 shares of the company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 8,320 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the 2nd quarter worth $8,207,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the 3rd quarter worth $481,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vir Biotechnology during the 2nd quarter worth $259,000. Institutional investors own 74.97% of the company's stock.

About Vir Biotechnology

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Vir Biotechnology, Inc, a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It develops Sotrovimab (VIR-7832), a SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing mAbs to treat and prevent COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand; VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 for the treatment of hepatitis B virus; VIR-2482 for the prevention of influenza A virus; and VIR-1111 for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus.

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