The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 4,191 Shares of Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) by 7.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Arbutus Biopharma were worth $177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABUS. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Arbutus Biopharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Walleye Trading LLC bought a new position in Arbutus Biopharma in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Arbutus Biopharma during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABUS. StockNews.com raised Arbutus Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. JMP Securities boosted 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 raised their price target on shares of Arbutus Biopharma from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABUS opened at $4.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $783.18 million, a PE ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 1.91. Arbutus Biopharma Co. has a 12-month low of $1.69 and a 12-month high of $4.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.48.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arbutus Biopharma Co. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

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.