ORIC Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIC) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,251,952 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 78% from the previous session’s volume of 704,967 shares.The stock last traded at $9.17 and had previously closed at $8.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORIC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.29.

ORIC Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 10.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $645.69 million, a P/E ratio of -5.08 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.37.

ORIC Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.01). On average, equities analysts predict that ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pratik S. Multani sold 8,850 shares of the company’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 $73,278.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,765 shares in the company, valued at $387,214.20. This represents a 15.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jacob Chacko sold 24,660 shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.28, for a total value of $204,184.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 778,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,447,205.44. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,361 shares of company stock worth $350,749. 5.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ORIC Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 26.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 950,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,067,000 after buying an additional 196,804 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 111.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 56,474 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,273,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,056,000 after acquiring an additional 50,821 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of ORIC Pharmaceuticals by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 85,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 13,711 shares in the last quarter. 95.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.