Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Arbutus Biopharma Call Options (NASDAQ:ABUS)

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 5,605 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 753% compared to the typical daily volume of 657 call options.

Institutional Trading of Arbutus Biopharma

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Seas Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 10,991,261 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,900,000 after acquiring an additional 547,944 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Arbutus Biopharma by 2.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,637,021 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,240,000 after purchasing an additional 95,876 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 2.7% in the third quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 2,903,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,181,000 after buying an additional 77,453 shares in the last quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 11.2% in the second quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP now owns 2,603,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,045,000 after buying an additional 261,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 63.5% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,575,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABUS. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.00.

Arbutus Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABUS traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 148,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,490. The firm has a market cap of $802.94 million, a P/E ratio of -18.11 and a beta of 0.70. Arbutus Biopharma has a 1-year low of $2.70 and a 1-year high of $5.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.18.

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

Arbutus Biopharma Company Profile

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and advancing a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The company’s pipeline features both direct-acting antivirals and host-targeting therapies designed to reduce viral load and restore immune function. Lead programs include an RNA interference (RNAi) candidate aimed at silencing viral gene expression and next-generation capsid assembly modulators that seek to inhibit viral replication at its core.

In addition to its antiviral portfolio, Arbutus leverages proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology to optimize the distribution and cellular uptake of nucleic acid therapeutics.