WCM Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

Key Points

• WCM Investment Management increased its Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stake by 23.5% in the first quarter, ending with 171,575 shares worth about $9.9 million.
• Insiders sold shares during the period, including Director Hongbo Lu and CFO Daniel Joseph Apel, with total insider sales of 26,065 shares over the last 90 days.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive: JPMorgan raised its price target to $95 and Stifel initiated coverage with a $98 target, while the consensus rating is still Moderate Buy with an average target price of $88.75.

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,575 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,670 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals worth $9,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 45,239 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,496 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $514,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 447,456 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 979 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1,339.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,123 shares in the last quarter. 62.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

In other Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals news, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of the firm'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 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. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,905 shares in the company, valued at $11,623,271.75. This represents 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 sold 26,065 shares of company stock valued at $1,912,662 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ARWR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.75.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $71.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of -33.33 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.51. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $14.30 and a one year high of $87.83.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.17. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 48.38% and a negative return on equity of 55.09%. The business had revenue of $73.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.07 EPS 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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