Oric Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) Shares Up 11.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIC) traded up 11.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.30 and last traded at $8.3340. 969,787 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 1,861,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.47.

Oric Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Oric Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” and set a $25 price target (large upside vs. current levels), providing a constructive analyst endorsement that can support longer-term upside. HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity: traders bought ~2,266 call options (≈2,058% above normal), signaling short-term speculative bullish interest or hedging ahead of catalysts. (No article)
• Neutral Sentiment: Company granted inducement awards (80,000 stock options + 15,000 RSUs) to a new non‑executive employee — modest potential dilution but standard for new hires. Inducement Grants Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader biotech headlines (e.g., BiopharmaDive roundup) are creating a mixed sector backdrop but are not ORIC‑specific drivers. Biotech News Roundup
• Negative Sentiment: ORIC shares fell sharply after early‑stage prostate cancer trial updates showed concerning side‑effect signals and prompted critical sell‑side commentary; multiple outlets report the move and investor selling. These clinical safety notes are the principal near‑term negative catalyst for the stock. Trial Data & Stock Drop
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: Wedbush lowered expectations for ORIC and subsequent coverage noted an analyst downgrade that coincided with a gap down in shares — further downward pressure from reduced sell‑side conviction. Wedbush Lowers Expectations Shares Gap Down After Downgrade

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ORIC. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Oric Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.90.

Oric Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.28. The stock has a market cap of $892.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.85 and a beta of 1.36.

Oric Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.04. On average, analysts anticipate that Oric Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Dominic Piscitelli sold 52,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.51, for a total transaction of $702,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,148 shares in the company, valued at $920,679.48. The trade was a 43.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oric Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Oric Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $102,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 109,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 18,128 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $904,000. VARCOV Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals by 141.0% in the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 28,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 16,594 shares during the period. 95.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oric Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Oric Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. The firm is dedicated to discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics designed to overcome resistance mechanisms in solid tumor oncology. Its research efforts focus on identifying novel targets and advancing precision medicines that can restore or enhance patient response when standard therapies fail.

The company’s pipeline features lead candidates such as ORIC-101, a selective, orally available antagonist of the glucocorticoid receptor currently being evaluated in Phase 1/2 trials for patients with solid tumors who have acquired resistance to chemotherapy and hormonal agents.