Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.8571.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KURA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kura Oncology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, December 5th.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:KURA opened at $8.07 on Wednesday. Kura Oncology has a 1 year low of $5.41 and a 1 year high of $12.49. The company has a market cap of $712.82 million, a PE ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 6.06 and a quick ratio of 6.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.47 and its 200 day moving average is $9.49.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $17.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.71 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 102.59% and a negative net margin of 412.95%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Brian T. Powl sold 6,414 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $54,262.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 183,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,506.50. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total value of $94,819.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 226,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,836.26. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 36,068 shares of company stock valued at $305,135 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kura Oncology by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 8,575,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,099,000 after purchasing an additional 459,422 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kura Oncology by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,507,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,224,000 after purchasing an additional 39,105 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its position in Kura Oncology by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 4,936,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,285,000 after buying an additional 264,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kura Oncology by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,931,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,234,000 after buying an additional 1,587,959 shares during the period. Finally, EcoR1 Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,234,000 after buying an additional 1,559,702 shares in the last quarter.

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.