California Public Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $ARWR

California Public Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 257,133 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,122,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARWR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 45,239 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 10,496 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $514,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 447,456 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 1,339.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.61% of the company’s stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of ARWR stock opened at $86.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.86. The company has a quick ratio of 6.23, a current ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of -40.36 and a beta of 1.26. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.01 and a 12-month high of $95.49.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.17. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 55.09% and a negative net margin of 48.38%.The company had revenue of $73.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Arrowhead reported topline Phase 3 SHASTA-3 and SHASTA-4 results for plozasiran, with both studies meeting the primary endpoint of triglyceride reduction versus placebo; the drug also showed meaningful reductions in acute pancreatitis risk, which investors view as a major de-risking event. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts responded favorably to the data, with Piper Sandler reaffirming an overweight rating and raising its price target to $126, and Morgan Stanley lifting its target to $120, reinforcing expectations for further upside if commercialization progresses. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighted Arrowhead’s stock move to a new 52-week high and described the plozasiran win as a validation of the company’s late-stage pipeline, with some commentary suggesting broader FDA approval and expanded commercialization potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional reports noted that Arrowhead’s ARO-033 first-in-human trial showed early safety progress, which is constructive for the pipeline but less immediately important than the plozasiran catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: No major negative company-specific news was provided in the recent items, though one market note flagged that the stock’s valuation has run up sharply, which could make further gains more dependent on execution and regulatory follow-through. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARWR. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.83.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals 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.