Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,410,000 shares, an increase of 16.6% from the February 13th total of 7,210,000 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 860,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Arbutus Biopharma

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Two Seas Capital LP raised its position in Arbutus Biopharma by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 8,740,956 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,583,000 after buying an additional 353,568 shares during the last quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Whitefort Capital Management LP now owns 13,241,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,301,000 after purchasing an additional 373,949 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 971,628 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after purchasing an additional 303,475 shares during the last quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 887,993 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 211,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 146,803 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 31,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Arbutus Biopharma Price Performance

NASDAQ:ABUS opened at $3.31 on Friday. Arbutus Biopharma has a twelve month low of $2.30 and a twelve month high of $4.73. The stock has a market cap of $627.22 million, a P/E ratio of -7.70 and a beta of 1.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

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.