Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS)

Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 14,379 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,406% compared to the average volume of 955 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABUS has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Arbutus Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 10th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Arbutus Biopharma from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Arbutus Biopharma from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 13.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 102.2% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 7.9% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of ABUS stock opened at $4.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $777.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.36 and a beta of 1.91. Arbutus Biopharma has a 12 month low of $1.69 and a 12 month high of $4.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.46.

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