Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Kura Oncology from $22.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $28.28.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Shares of KURA stock opened at $17.68 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.83 and a 200 day moving average of $15.12. Kura Oncology has a 52 week low of $7.41 and a 52 week high of $24.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.50 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 12.26, a current ratio of 12.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.49) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kura Oncology will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Troy Edward Wilson sold 91,052 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.23, for a total value of $1,841,981.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,308.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Troy Edward Wilson sold 91,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.23, for a total value of $1,841,981.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,308.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Kathleen Ford sold 1,496 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $26,628.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 21,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,515.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,919 shares of company stock worth $1,946,415 over the last three months. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KURA. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Kura Oncology by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 22,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 3.8% during the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 24,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

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.