Insider Selling: Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Insider Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• James Hamilton sold 10,000 ARWR shares on April 23 at an average price of $75 for $750,000, trimming his stake by 4.22% to 226,958 shares; the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• Arrowhead (NASDAQ:ARWR) is trading near its 52‑week high (around $73.91) with a market cap of about $10.35B; the company recently missed EPS estimates ($0.22 vs $0.60) but reported large revenue growth and has drawn several analyst upgrades to a consensus target of $83.78.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) insider James Hamilton sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 226,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,021,850. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARWR traded down $0.49 on Friday, reaching $73.91. 1,639,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,749,030. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 3.38. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.31 and a beta of 1.26. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.44 and a 52 week high of $76.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.95.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.38). Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 35.64% and a net margin of 18.54%.The firm had revenue of $264.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $225.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.39) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10461.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARWR shares. Chardan Capital increased their price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

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

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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