Oruka Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ORKA) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORKA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $78.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Oruka Therapeutics traded as high as $54.00 and last traded at $57.68, with a volume of 17361 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.31.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Oruka Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oruka Therapeutics from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Oruka Therapeutics from $58.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Oruka Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Oruka Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.90.

Insider Activity

In other Oruka Therapeutics news, insider Joana Goncalves sold 7,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $312,593.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,365,453.07. This trade represents a 18.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lawrence Otto Klein sold 1,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total value of $71,407.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,297,861.70. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,765 shares of company stock worth $849,575. Insiders own 24.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oruka Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORKA. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Oruka Therapeutics by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oruka Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oruka Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oruka Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Oruka Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.44% of the company’s stock.

Oruka Therapeutics Stock Up 7.5%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.92 and its 200-day moving average is $31.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.58 and a beta of -0.54.

Oruka Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ORKA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by $0.16. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.41 EPS for the current year.

Oruka Therapeutics Company Profile

Oruka Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel peptide‐based therapies for oncology. The company’s proprietary stapled peptide platform is designed to selectively disrupt intracellular protein–protein interactions that drive tumor growth and immune evasion. By combining the specificity of biologics with the cell‐permeability of small molecules, Oruka aims to target cancer pathways that have been historically considered “undruggable.”

The company’s lead candidate, ONCT-01, is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials for patients with advanced solid tumors, assessing safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy.