Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 64,593 Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stake by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 64,593 shares and leaving it with 715,539 shares valued at about $47.5 million.
• Several analysts remain bullish on ARWR, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $84.90; recent targets ranged as high as $101.
• Insiders have also been selling shares, including CEO/CFO-related transactions under 10b5-1 plans, while Arrowhead’s latest quarter showed a smaller-than-expected loss per share despite revenue falling sharply year over year.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 715,539 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 64,593 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.51% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals worth $47,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 384.8% in the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 543 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 2,186.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. 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 report on Friday. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James C. Hamilton sold 10,000 shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 226,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,021,850. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel Joseph Apel sold 13,095 shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.35, for a total value of $934,328.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 162,905 shares in the company, valued at $11,623,271.75. This trade 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. Insiders have sold 33,095 shares of company stock worth $2,326,228 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 6.7%

ARWR stock opened at $72.70 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $64.30 and its 200-day moving average is $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of -33.81 and a beta of 1.28. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.89 and a twelve month high of $79.48. The company has a quick ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.17. The business 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 56.92% and a negative net margin of 48.38%.Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was down 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Company 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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