ORIC Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) Shares Up 15.6% – Still a Buy?

ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIC) shot up 15.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $11.07 and last traded at $11.73. 180,082 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 766,222 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 31st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.29.

ORIC Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $779.66 million, a PE ratio of -6.16 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.58.

ORIC Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.49) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.01). As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Dominic Piscitelli sold 8,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.28, for a total value of $73,286.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,764 shares in the company, valued at $884,005.92. This trade represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Pratik S. Multani sold 8,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.28, for a total value of $73,278.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $387,214.20. This trade represents a 15.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,361 shares of company stock valued at $350,749 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ORIC Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORIC. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 93,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 4,072 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 24,947 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 950,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,067,000 after acquiring an additional 196,804 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.05% of the company’s stock.

About ORIC Pharmaceuticals

ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of therapies for treatment of cancers in the United States. Its clinical stage product candidates include ORIC-114, a brain penetrant orally bioavailable irreversible inhibitor, currently under Phase 1b study, which is designed to selectively target epidermal growth factor receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 with high potency towards exon 20 insertion mutations; ORIC-944, an allosteric inhibitor of the polycomb repressive complex 2 for prostate cancer, currently under Phase 1b study; and ORIC-533, an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of CD73, currently under Phase 1b study, being developed for resistance to chemotherapy- and immunotherapy-based treatment regimens.