Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Leerink Partners raised their price target on the stock from $61.00 to $72.00. Leerink Partners currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $82.48 and last traded at $81.9610, with a volume of 1344503 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.55.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James C. Hamilton sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 226,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,021,850. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel Joseph Apel sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.35, for a total transaction of $934,328.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 162,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,623,271.75. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,065 shares of company stock valued at $1,912,662. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tsfg LLC purchased a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 83.8% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 408 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 384.8% during the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 177.1% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. 62.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 6.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 6.23 and a quick ratio of 6.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.21. The firm has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of -38.02 and a beta of 1.28.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.17. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 55.09% and a negative net margin of 48.38%.The business had revenue of $73.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3 earnings per share for the current year.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. Since its founding in 2008, Arrowhead has leveraged its proprietary delivery platform—known internally as the Advanced RNAi Compound (ARC) technology—to silence disease-causing genes in patients suffering from genetically defined diseases. The company’s approach aims to offer durable, targeted treatments across a range of therapeutic areas.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple candidates in various stages of development.