Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Trading Up 8.4% – Time to Buy?

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR) shares were up 8.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $16.11 and last traded at $16.32. Approximately 962,590 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 1,966,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ARWR shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.44.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.27, a current ratio of 6.09 and a quick ratio of 6.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.35.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.97). As a group, research analysts forecast that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 3,748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.90, for a total value of $82,081.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,337.50. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Richard Anzalone sold 133,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total transaction of $2,269,327.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,773,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,230,110.04. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 280,765 shares of company stock worth $5,227,313 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $494,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $362,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $659,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,006,935 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,504,000 after acquiring an additional 12,574 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 941.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 122,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 110,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.61% of the company’s stock.

About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc develops medicines for the treatment of intractable diseases in the United States. The company's products in pipeline includes Plozasiran, which is in Phase 2b and one Phase 3 clinical trial to treat hypertriglyceridemia, mixed dyslipidemia, and chylomicronemia syndrome; Zodasiran that is in Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia; ARO-PNPLA3, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; ARO-RAGE that is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat inflammatory pulmonary conditions; and ARO-MUC5AC, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat muco-obstructive pulmonary diseases.