Analysts Set Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Price Target at $28.00

Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KURA shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 price target on Kura Oncology and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kura Oncology from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,919,836.26. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 145,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,112.82. This represents a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 59,794 shares of company stock worth $537,176 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Kura Oncology in the fourth quarter worth about $349,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 209,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 26,683 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Kura Oncology by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 50,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,505,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 291.4% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 49,785 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:KURA opened at $8.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12. Kura Oncology has a 1-year low of $5.41 and a 1-year high of $12.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.93 and a 200 day moving average of $9.39. The firm has a market cap of $755.33 million, a PE ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 0.22.

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.