Rani Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RANI) Shares Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Rani Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:RANI)’s stock price rose 1.5% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $0.6943 and last traded at $0.68. 450,210 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 572,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.6702.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RANI. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Rani Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Chardan Capital raised shares of Rani Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Rani Therapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rani Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.75.

Rani Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $94.79 million, a PE ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.83.

Rani Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RANI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.93 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Rani Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rani Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Talat Imran acquired 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $0.72 per share, with a total value of $25,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 469,736 shares in the company, valued at $338,209.92. This trade represents a 8.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 26.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rani Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rani Therapeutics by 4.1% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 265,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 10,347 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Rani Therapeutics by 155.5% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 41,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25,501 shares during the period. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Rani Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,703,000. 30.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Rani Therapeutics

Rani Therapeutics Holdings, Inc is a biotechnology company developing oral delivery technologies for biologic medicines that are typically administered by injection. The company’s platform is designed to transport therapeutic molecules through the stomach and release them in the small intestine, where they can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Its primary technology, the RaniPill capsule, is a robotic oral delivery system intended to deliver biologics, peptides and other large-molecule therapies.