Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading Up 4.8% – Here’s What Happened

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)’s stock price was up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $8.81 and last traded at $8.90. Approximately 432,178 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,487,378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KURA shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kura Oncology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.86.

Kura Oncology Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a current ratio of 6.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.49. The stock has a market cap of $765.38 million, a P/E ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 0.25.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.20). Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 102.59% and a negative net margin of 412.95%.The company had revenue of $17.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.71 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $94,819.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 226,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,919,836.26. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 7,142 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $60,421.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 145,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,112.82. This represents a 4.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,068 shares of company stock worth $305,135 over the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 119,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 115.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 22,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares during the period.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

Kura Oncology, Inc (NASDAQ: KURA) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted oncology therapies. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, the company leverages expertise in molecular biology and precision medicine to identify key drivers of cancer growth and design small-molecule inhibitors that block those pathways. Kura’s research platform integrates genomic insights with medicinal chemistry to advance candidates against well-validated targets in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

The company’s lead clinical candidate, tipifarnib, is a farnesyltransferase inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and various non-small cell lung cancers.