Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

KURA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim began coverage on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, October 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.67.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

Shares of Kura Oncology stock traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $9.86. 1,573,125 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,604. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 6.16 and a current ratio of 5.12. The firm has a market cap of $858.02 million, a PE ratio of -3.98 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.17 and its 200-day moving average is $7.30. Kura Oncology has a one year low of $5.41 and a one year high of $19.73.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.28). Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 208.48% and a negative return on equity of 65.42%. The firm had revenue of $20.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.48 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kura Oncology

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 12,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total transaction of $110,087.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 158,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,444.66. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Troy Edward Wilson acquired 50,000 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.20 per share, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 100,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $827,937.60. The trade was a 98.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,058 shares of company stock worth $697,839. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Kura Oncology in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 127.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 3,769 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 471.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 9,958 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 32.2% in the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kura Oncology during the first quarter valued at $79,000.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s pipeline consists of small molecule product candidates that target cancer. Its lead product candidates are ziftomenib, an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of the menin-KMT2A interaction for the treatment of genetically defined subsets of acute leukemias, including acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia; tipifarnib, an orally bioavailable farnesyl transferase inhibitor combination with alpelisib for patients with PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC; and KO-2806, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumors.