Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Trading Down 4.9% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Arrowhead shares fell 4.9% to about $67.22, below both the 50-day ($83.85) and 200-day ($75.28) moving averages, on trading volume well below average.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $99.15; however, ratings range from Weiss Ratings’ “sell” to several “buy” recommendations.
• The company’s latest quarter showed strong 171% year-over-year revenue growth to $75.25 million but an EPS loss of $1.36 that missed estimates, while insider directors sold shares and institutional investors collectively own 62.61% of the stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 4.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $67.14 and last traded at $67.2220. 736,034 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 2,268,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARWR. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $101.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.15.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.1%

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $83.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 5.90 and a quick ratio of 5.90. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.06 and a beta of 1.28.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $75.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.17 million. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 47.79% and a negative return on equity of 60.06%. The firm's revenue was up 171.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.26) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael S. Perry sold 11,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $1,012,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 111,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,730,370.70. The trade was a 9.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Adeoye Y. Olukotun sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.96, for a total value of $173,920.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,747,936. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARWR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $1,208,838,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,159,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 497.4% during the 4th quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,832,997 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $121,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,164 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $99,623,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,988,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.61% of the company's stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc NASDAQ: ARWR is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines that silence disease-causing genes. The company uses RNA interference (RNAi), a biological process that reduces the production of specific proteins, to target conditions that may be difficult to treat with conventional drugs.

Arrowhead's proprietary TRiM platform is designed to deliver RNAi-based therapies to different tissues, including the liver, lungs and other organs. Its investigational pipeline has included candidates for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, liver disorders, pulmonary conditions and inflammatory diseases.

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