Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) Trading Down 6.4% – Here’s Why

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) fell 6.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $4.66 and last traded at $4.6350. 527,933 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 970,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABUS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arbutus Biopharma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.00.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Down 6.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $889.48 million, a P/E ratio of -20.11 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.93.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $0.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 million. Arbutus Biopharma had a negative net margin of 289.79% and a negative return on equity of 50.26%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arbutus Biopharma Corporation will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arbutus Biopharma

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Arbutus Biopharma by 290.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,075,948 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,245,000 after buying an additional 1,544,070 shares during the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 8.3% in the first quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 9,465,956 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,036,000 after acquiring an additional 725,000 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 173.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,655,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,110 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 99.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 139,462 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 69,631 shares during the period. Finally, BlackBarn Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 11.2% during the second quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP now owns 2,603,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,045,000 after acquiring an additional 261,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

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.