Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORKA) Short Interest Down 18.4% in March

Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORKA) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,644,487 shares, a decrease of 18.4% from the February 26th total of 4,466,793 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 487,246 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days. Currently, 9.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Oruka Therapeutics Price Performance

ORKA traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.03. The stock had a trading volume of 408,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,515. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.08 and a beta of -0.38. Oruka Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $5.49 and a 1-year high of $47.25.

Oruka Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ORKA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Oruka Therapeutics will post -3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Oruka Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Lawrence Otto Klein sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total value of $71,407.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,297,861.70. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joana Goncalves sold 7,641 shares of Oruka Therapeutics 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 sale, the insider directly owned 33,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,365,453.07. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,765 shares of company stock valued at $849,575 over the last ninety days. 24.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oruka Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oruka Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $2,505,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oruka Therapeutics by 100.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,932,000 after acquiring an additional 354,821 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new stake in Oruka Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $68,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Oruka Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Oruka Therapeutics by 567.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 13,115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORKA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Oruka Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Oruka Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Oruka Therapeutics from $58.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Oruka Therapeutics from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Oruka Therapeutics from $47.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.60.

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.