Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Receives $26.86 Average PT from Analysts

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.8571.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush lowered their target price on Kura Oncology from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 price objective on Kura Oncology and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 7.4%

KURA opened at $7.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $683.67 million, a PE ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 0.22. Kura Oncology has a twelve month low of $5.41 and a twelve month high of $12.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.47. The company has a quick ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 6.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $17.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.71 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 226,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,836.26. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 6,414 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $54,262.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 183,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,506.50. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,068 shares of company stock worth $305,135 in the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,265,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,196,000 after buying an additional 345,951 shares during the period. Sector Gamma AS purchased a new position in Kura Oncology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,880,000. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. acquired a new position in Kura Oncology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,043,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Kura Oncology by 185.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 118,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 76,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 11.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,014,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,623,000 after purchasing an additional 211,470 shares during the period.

About Kura Oncology

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.