Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Raises Stock Position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management dramatically increased its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, ending the quarter with 421,543 shares worth about $28.0 million after a massive purchase.
• Several insiders sold shares in recent weeks, including Director Hongbo Lu and CFO Daniel Joseph Apel; the sales were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, and insiders sold 36,065 shares total over the past 90 days.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on ARWR, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $87.80, while the stock recently traded at $73.18 after beating earnings-per-share expectations in its latest quarterly report.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Free Report) by 178,519.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 421,543 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 421,307 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned approximately 0.30% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals worth $27,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARWR. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 30.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 45,239 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,496 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $514,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 34.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,741,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $22,189,000 after purchasing an additional 447,456 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1,339.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,123 shares during the period. 62.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 52,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,998,682.56. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel Joseph Apel sold 13,095 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,623,271.75. The trade was a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 36,065 shares of company stock valued at $2,554,562 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $78.00 to $100.00 in a research note 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 note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.80.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $73.18 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $66.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.48. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.04 and a beta of 1.28. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.30 and a 1 year high of $82.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 6.23 and a current ratio of 6.23.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $73.74 million for 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%. The business's revenue was down 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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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