Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading Up 4.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shot up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $8.81 and last traded at $8.90. 432,178 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,487,378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KURA. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, March 13th. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kura Oncology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kura Oncology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.86.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $765.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 6.06, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $8.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.49.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $17.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.71 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 102.59% and a negative net margin of 412.95%. Analysts expect that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In related news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 8,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total value of $69,202.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 267,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,261,138.04. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $94,819.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 226,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,919,836.26. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,068 shares of company stock valued at $305,135 in the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $349,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 209,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after buying an additional 26,683 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 50,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 17,197 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $2,505,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 291.4% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 49,785 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.