Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $80.67, but opened at $82.89. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $74.8290, with a volume of 680,012 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARWR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.15.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.22. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.41 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 5.90 and a current ratio of 5.90.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 171.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.26) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael Perry sold 11,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $1,012,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 111,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,730,370.70. This represents a 9.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Adeoye Olukotun sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.96, for a total value of $173,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,747,936. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 285.1% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 80.6% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 345 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 83.8% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 408 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 62.61% of the company’s stock.

About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals

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.