Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORKA) Short Interest Up 24.1% in March

Oruka Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORKA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,522,980 shares, a growth of 24.1% from the March 15th total of 3,644,487 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 900,965 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 12.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ORKA shares. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Oruka Therapeutics from $40.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oruka Therapeutics from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Oruka Therapeutics from $58.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Oruka Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Oruka Therapeutics from $50.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oruka Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oruka Therapeutics news, CEO Lawrence Otto Klein sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total transaction of $71,407.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,297,861.70. This trade represents a 0.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joana Goncalves sold 7,641 shares of Oruka Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.91, for a total value of $312,593.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 33,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,453.07. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,765 shares of company stock worth $1,089,745. 24.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oruka Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ORKA. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Oruka Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 48,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Oruka Therapeutics by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Oruka Therapeutics by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Oruka Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 56.44% of the company’s stock.

Oruka Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of ORKA traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.92. 1,379,486 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,134,027. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -37.05 and a beta of -0.54. Oruka Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $8.91 and a 1-year high of $70.14.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.61) by $0.16. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Oruka Therapeutics will post -3.41 EPS for the current fiscal 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.