Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) Short Interest Update

Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,360,000 shares, a growth of 12.2% from the September 15th total of 6,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABUS. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Arbutus Biopharma by 66.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 349,435 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $902,000 after buying an additional 57,390 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma in the first quarter valued at $266,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Arbutus Biopharma by 30.5% during the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 41,935 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 22.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,388 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,649 shares during the period. 43.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Arbutus Biopharma from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Arbutus Biopharma from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Arbutus Biopharma Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ABUS stock opened at $4.20 on Thursday. Arbutus Biopharma has a 1 year low of $1.69 and a 1 year high of $4.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.46.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 million. Arbutus Biopharma had a negative return on equity of 66.68% and a negative net margin of 766.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Arbutus Biopharma will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Arbutus Biopharma Company Profile

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the United States. Its HBV product pipeline consists of imdusiran (AB-729), a proprietary subcutaneously-delivered RNAi therapeutic product candidate that suppresses all HBV antigens, including HBsAg expression.