Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 7,550 Shares of Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Arbutus Biopharma Co. (NASDAQ:ABUS) by 28.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,550 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Arbutus Biopharma were worth $63,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,407,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,448,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,280,000 after purchasing an additional 135,442 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 218.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,212,246 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,667,000 after purchasing an additional 831,663 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Arbutus Biopharma by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 496,818 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 21,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Arbutus Biopharma by 466.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 272,029 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 223,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 43.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Arbutus Biopharma to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective (up previously from $4.50) on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of Arbutus Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Arbutus Biopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arbutus Biopharma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.50.

Arbutus Biopharma Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of ABUS stock opened at $3.45 on Friday. Arbutus Biopharma Co. has a twelve month low of $2.30 and a twelve month high of $4.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $653.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.02 and a beta of 1.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.66.

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.