Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (up previously from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 15,485 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total transaction of $173,122.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 225,454 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,575.72. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 8,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total value of $99,356.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,561,723.02. The trade was a 5.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,411 shares of company stock valued at $1,035,994. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kura Oncology by 392.8% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,072 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 3,769 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Kura Oncology in the third quarter worth about $89,000. Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in Kura Oncology in the third quarter worth about $91,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 222.3% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 7,189 shares during the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ KURA opened at $8.27 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.08 and a 200-day moving average of $9.10. 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 12 month low of $5.41 and a 12 month high of $12.49. The company has a market cap of $719.66 million, a P/E ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 0.23.

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

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.