Wall Street Zen Downgrades Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) to Sell

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on KURA. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kura Oncology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KURA opened at $8.73 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.37. The firm has a market cap of $759.68 million, a PE ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.12, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Kura Oncology has a 1-year low of $5.41 and a 1-year high of $12.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 7,142 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 value of $60,421.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 145,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,112.82. This trade represents a 4.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 8,180 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 value of $69,202.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 267,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,261,138.04. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,794 shares of company stock worth $537,176. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 115.3% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 127.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 3,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 471.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the last quarter.

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.