Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Trading 8.4% Higher - Here's What Happened

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARWR. StockNews.com raised shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Chardan Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.44.

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Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.97 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.27, a current ratio of 6.09 and a quick ratio of 6.09.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). On average, analysts anticipate that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher Richard Anzalone sold 133,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total transaction of $2,269,327.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,773,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,230,110.04. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Adeoye Y. Olukotun sold 2,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $57,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,800. This represents a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 280,765 shares of company stock worth $5,227,313 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,111,111 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $208,889,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,223 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 8.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,354,331 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $123,083,000 after purchasing an additional 516,569 shares during the last quarter. Slate Path Capital LP raised its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 5,232,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $98,362,000 after purchasing an additional 347,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,964,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,426,000 after purchasing an additional 26,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,622,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.61% of the company's stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.