Oric Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) Shares Down 4.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Oric Pharmaceuticals shares fell 4.6% to about $11.91 in midday trading, with unusually light volume—98% below the average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 14 analysts rate the stock a Buy, with an average price target of $20.67, despite one Sell rating from Weiss Ratings.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS loss of $0.38, missing expectations by $0.02, while CFO Dominic Piscitelli sold 77,000 shares worth approximately $1.05 million under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Oric Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIC - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $12.11 and last traded at $11.9120. 38,708 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 1,692,356 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORIC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Oric Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.67.

Oric Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.6%

The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.89 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $12.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.87.

Oric Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.02). Analysts forecast that Oric Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Dominic Piscitelli sold 77,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $1,054,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 69,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $955,945.32. This represents a 52.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,000 shares of company stock worth $1,243,532. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oric Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORIC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Oric Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,904,000. Siren L.L.C. raised its holdings in Oric Pharmaceuticals by 197.6% during the first quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 2,998,192 shares of the company's stock worth $37,987,000 after buying an additional 1,990,617 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Oric Pharmaceuticals by 791.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,215,293 shares of the company's stock worth $13,162,000 after buying an additional 1,078,943 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $11,675,000. Finally, Defilade Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $10,680,000. 95.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Oric Pharmaceuticals

Oric Pharmaceuticals, Inc NASDAQ: ORIC is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for cancer. The company's research is centered on mechanisms that enable tumors to resist or evade treatment, with the goal of restoring sensitivity to established cancer therapies and improving patient outcomes.

Oric's pipeline has included investigational small-molecule therapies designed to target cancer biology and treatment resistance. These programs include ORIC-533, an oral inhibitor of CD73 being studied in oncology, and ORIC-944, an oral allosteric inhibitor of EED, a component of the polycomb repressive complex 2.

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