Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 13 analysts, with eight buy ratings and one strong buy; the average 12-month price target is about $86.36.
• Recent earnings topped EPS expectations, as the company reported ($0.93) EPS versus the estimated ($1.10), though revenue came in roughly in line and was still down sharply year over year.
• Insider selling has continued, including transactions by James C. Hamilton and Director Hongbo Lu, while institutional investors remain heavily involved with about 62.61% of shares held by funds and other institutions.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.3636.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARWR shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company.

Insider Activity at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider James C. Hamilton sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 226,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,021,850. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.88, for a total value of $228,333.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,998,682.56. The trade was a 5.40% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,065 shares of company stock worth $1,912,662. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARWR. Tsfg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 83.8% during the first 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. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $29,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 384.8% during the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 543 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 62.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of ARWR stock opened at $81.82 on Friday. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $14.30 and a 12 month high of $84.55. The firm has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of -38.06 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.25 and a 200-day moving average of $67.68. The company has a quick ratio of 6.23, a current ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $73.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals will post -3 EPS 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.

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