Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ABUS. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a report on Friday. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.50.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of ABUS opened at $3.50 on Friday. Arbutus Biopharma has a fifty-two week low of $2.30 and a fifty-two week high of $4.73. The firm has a market cap of $663.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.14 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.57.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.01. Arbutus Biopharma had a negative return on equity of 68.18% and a negative net margin of 1,137.65%. The company had revenue of $1.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arbutus Biopharma will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Arbutus Biopharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 69,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 40,179 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 79,761 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 42,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 6,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Arbutus Biopharma by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 89,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 8,308 shares during the last quarter. 43.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.