Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Shares Up 6.2% - What's Next?

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) shot up 6.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $16.30 and last traded at $16.52. 303,616 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 1,502,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ARWR. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.13.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of -3.11 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.27, a quick ratio of 6.09 and a current ratio of 6.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.46.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $2.81. The company had revenue of $542.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.02) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Christopher Richard Anzalone sold 40,322 shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total value of $406,042.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,022,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,502,093.85. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 275,880 shares of company stock worth $4,034,037. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,224 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,918 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,385 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 450,075 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,461,000 after acquiring an additional 48,929 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.61% of the company's stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc develops medicines for the treatment of intractable diseases in the United States. The company's products in pipeline includes Plozasiran, which is in Phase 2b and one Phase 3 clinical trial to treat hypertriglyceridemia, mixed dyslipidemia, and chylomicronemia syndrome; Zodasiran that is in Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia; ARO-PNPLA3, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; ARO-RAGE that is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat inflammatory pulmonary conditions; and ARO-MUC5AC, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat muco-obstructive pulmonary diseases.