Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Takes Position in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new stake in shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 36,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,111,111 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $208,889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,223 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,202,562 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $168,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,273 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,821,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 794,373 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,934,000 after purchasing an additional 586,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slate Path Capital LP increased its holdings in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 5,232,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $98,362,000 after purchasing an additional 347,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James C. Hamilton sold 9,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $187,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 262,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,242,440. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 9.2%

NASDAQ:ARWR opened at $20.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.94. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.57 and a 52-week high of $27.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a current ratio of 4.87. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -16.02, a PEG ratio of 72.16 and a beta of 0.94.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.94) by ($0.32). The company had revenue of $27.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.38) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.14.

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.