Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) Short Interest Up 12.2% in September

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

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Up 6.5 %

NASDAQ ABUS opened at $4.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $775.63 million, a PE ratio of -9.34 and a beta of 1.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.45. Arbutus Biopharma has a 52 week low of $1.69 and a 52 week high of $4.72.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arbutus Biopharma

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 5,989 shares during the period. Helen Stephens Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma in the third quarter worth about $204,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 102.2% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 208,152 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 105,228 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Arbutus Biopharma by 7.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 57,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABUS. StockNews.com upgraded Arbutus Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Arbutus Biopharma from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Arbutus Biopharma from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arbutus Biopharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.25.

About Arbutus Biopharma

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.