Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $30.73 Million Stock Position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stake by 31.5% in Q1, selling 225,417 shares and ending with 490,122 shares worth about $30.7 million.
• Several analysts remain upbeat on ARWR, with recent price targets as high as $98; the stock’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy and the average target is $88.75.
• Arrowhead reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, but revenue fell sharply year over year and insiders have also been selling shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Free Report) by 31.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 490,122 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 225,417 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.35% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals worth $30,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 43,261 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,713,000 after acquiring an additional 8,474 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $215,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,086 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 2,648.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,447 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 32,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $9,451,000. 62.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

In other Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Daniel Joseph Apel sold 13,095 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.88, for a total transaction of $228,333.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,012 shares in the company, valued at $3,998,682.56. This represents a 5.40% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,065 shares of company stock valued at $1,912,662. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARWR. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Chardan Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.75.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARWR opened at $74.30 on Monday. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.30 and a fifty-two week high of $87.83. The stock has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.56 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 6.23 and a current ratio of 6.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $77.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.48.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.84 million. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 55.09% and a negative net margin of 48.38%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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