Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 63,939 Shares of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation $ABUS

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Arbutus Biopharma by 43.6%, owning 82,864 shares valued at $289,000 after selling 63,939 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors control 43.79% of Arbutus Biopharma's stock, with Wells Fargo increasing its holdings by 44.6% in the previous quarter.
• Analysts currently have an average rating of "Buy" for the stock, with a target price of $5.50, following a recent earnings report that surpassed expectations.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS - Free Report) by 43.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,864 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 63,939 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Arbutus Biopharma were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 44.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 70,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 21,768 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Arbutus Biopharma in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,452 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 8,648 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,330,683 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,351,000 after acquiring an additional 102,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.79% of the company's stock.

Arbutus Biopharma Trading Down 2.7%

ABUS stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.09. 521,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 893,505. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation has a one year low of $2.70 and a one year high of $4.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.35. The company has a market cap of $783.09 million, a P/E ratio of -14.12 and a beta of 1.01.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.21 million. Arbutus Biopharma had a negative net margin of 352.24% and a negative return on equity of 59.28%. Analysts forecast that Arbutus Biopharma Corporation will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABUS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Arbutus Biopharma presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $5.00.

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.