Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from “hold” to “sell,” even though the broader analyst view remains more positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $87.80.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of ($0.93), which beat expectations, but revenue was essentially in line and still fell 86.4% year over year, underscoring continued pressure on fundamentals.
• Insider selling has been notable, with the CFO and a director recently trimming shares; over the last three months, insiders sold 36,065 shares worth about $2.55 million.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

ARWR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.80.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARWR opened at $77.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.24 and a beta of 1.28. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $14.30 and a 52 week high of $82.26. The company has a quick ratio of 6.23, a current ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.56 and a 200 day moving average of $64.39.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $73.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.84 million. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 48.38% and a negative return on equity of 55.09%. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was down 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals will post -2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 directly owned 162,905 shares in the company, valued at $11,623,271.75. The trade was a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Also, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.88, for a total transaction of $228,333.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,998,682.56. This represents 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. Insiders sold 36,065 shares of company stock worth $2,554,562 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARWR. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 2,569.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 240,634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,976,000 after purchasing an additional 231,620 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 73,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $781,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $287,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 133.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,053,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $36,345,000 after purchasing an additional 602,139 shares during the last quarter. 62.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

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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