Legal & General Group Plc Takes $11.84 Million Position in Arbutus Biopharma Corporation $ABUS

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,466,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,837,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.25% of Arbutus Biopharma at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Arbutus Biopharma by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 38,959 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,161 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 6.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 59,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 14.6% in the first quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 32,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arbutus Biopharma by 6.7% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 88,454 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 5,590 shares during the period. 43.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ABUS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arbutus Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.00.

Arbutus Biopharma Price Performance

ABUS opened at $5.08 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.50. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation has a 1 year low of $3.50 and a 1 year high of $5.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.64.

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.70 million. Arbutus Biopharma had a return on equity of 90.98% and a net margin of 84.22%.

Arbutus Biopharma announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, August 21st that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.