Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 40.19% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.83.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARWR opened at $85.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a PE ratio of -39.81 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.97. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $15.01 and a fifty-two week high of $95.49. The company has a quick ratio of 6.23, a current ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.17. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 48.38% and a negative return on equity of 55.09%. The firm had revenue of $73.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.75 EPS. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals will post -3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hongbo Lu sold 2,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.88, for a total transaction of $228,333.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,012 shares in the company, valued at $3,998,682.56. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARWR. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 3,142.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,081,689 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017,489 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $113,159,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 497.4% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,832,997 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $121,693,000 after buying an additional 1,526,164 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $64,988,000. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $34,249,000. 62.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

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.