Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter, buying 40,600 shares worth about $2.55 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several large investors significantly increasing their stakes; the article says 62.61% of Arrowhead’s stock is held by institutions.
• Wall Street sentiment is still broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.36, although one analyst recently downgraded the stock to sell.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,546,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 2,569.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 240,634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,976,000 after buying an additional 231,620 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 133.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,053,794 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $36,345,000 after buying an additional 602,139 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 90.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 775,717 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $26,754,000 after buying an additional 368,073 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 34.6% during the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 83,388 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,876,000 after buying an additional 21,441 shares during the period. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,670,762 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,625,000 after buying an additional 731,588 shares during the period. 62.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.36.

Insider Activity at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

In other Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals news, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 52,012 shares in the company, valued at $3,998,682.56. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.35, for a total transaction of $934,328.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,623,271.75. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 quarter, insiders sold 26,065 shares of company stock valued at $1,912,662. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARWR opened at $80.50 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $75.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 6.23 and a quick ratio of 6.23. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $14.30 and a one year high of $84.55. The company has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.44 and a beta of 1.28.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $73.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.84 million. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 55.09% and a negative net margin of 48.38%.The business's revenue was down 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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