Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

Key Points

• Norges Bank bought a new stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter, acquiring 1,704,464 shares worth about $113.2 million and ending with 1.22% ownership.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $87.80, though some firms recently raised targets while Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock to sell.
• Arrowhead reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss of ($0.93) per share, but revenue fell 86.4% year over year; insiders also sold shares during the quarter, including the CFO and another executive.

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,704,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $113,159,000. Norges Bank owned 1.22% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,347 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,102 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 133,229 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC bought a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 31,614 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 62.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARWR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.80.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

ARWR stock opened at $75.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.96 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.30 and a 52 week high of $82.26.

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

Insider Transactions at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Daniel Joseph Apel sold 13,095 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.35, for a total value of $934,328.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 162,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,623,271.75. This trade represents a 7.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, insider James C. Hamilton sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $750,000.00. Following the completion of 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,065 shares of company stock worth $1,912,662. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals 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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